American Monsters
by Brawl499
Summary: When two of the members of M.O.N. are trapped in the United States on a botched business trip, and accidental arson and murder prevents them from leaving conventionally, what events may unfold in their attempts to get home? Read the Chapter 6 post-note for details regarding Zom's behavior in previous chapters. Chapter 3 heavily reworked.
1. Boom Goes the Store

Author's Note

So, the only thing I really want to let everyone know about before reading is that, while the story _will_ feature large involvement with crime and mobsters, gangsters, the full nine yards, this story is _not_ intended to be intensely serious. My writing relies heavily on a mixture of banter, jokes, and violence mixed with occasional serious moments, so I can assure you now that the story will never get incredibly depressing. Also, while I clearly state in the description that it's just Manako and Zombina in America, other characters getting featured is not ruled out, especially since I'm fond of "Meanwhile in (Place name)…." cuts when it's appropriate, so any fans of the center-starring cast will get a small cameo of their favorites if it's called for quite a bit.

Chapter 1: Boom Goes the Store

_Hotel Room in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas…_

Despite having a prominent love for guns, as well as getting to shoot anybody she legally could with them, Zombina didn't exactly _hate_ people. However, Americans had quickly started to earn a spot as the exception in her head.

_Oh, the Americans…._

She had only been in the U.S. for two whole days with Manako and Ms. Smith as a means of advertising the success of the Extraspecies Act, and yet already the general American population had made her _wish_ she was a senseless zombie from her favorite movie genre.

_What's with all the stitches? You look like that because you got fucked too hard? You some necrophiliacs' bitch?_ Zombina's mind loosely recited as she slept in their hotel room, reminiscing over the various comments that made her want to just reach out and throttle somebody. Not _all_ Americans were bad, just the majority that fed into the misleading information American news stations had been presenting about the Extraspecies Act:

_They were saying that Japan was being __**invaded**__._

That was the main reason they were here: to set the record straight that life in Japan under this act was largely peaceful, with only the _occasional_ escapee or illegal group of revolutionary orcs disrupting the peace. Smith's affectionately named friend Darling usually picked up the slack on the former though, whether he liked it or not.

"Wake up."

_Where the hell is that coming from? _Zombina's slightly awake, still 3/4 asleep mind wondered, hearing a voice start to poke its way into her thoughts.

"Wake up!" The voice yelled again, this time sounding angrier and more desperate.

_If it's so bad just leave a message, I won't call back._ Zombina's mind retorted, somehow bringing phone logic into the equation.

"Wake up dammit!" The voice yelled again, followed by a splash of something wet and cold that instantly kicked the remaining 3/4 of Zombina's mind into alert mode.

"Gah! What the _fuck?!_" Zombina yelled, immediately springing up into a sitting position on her now-wet bed. Figuring out very quickly that the wetness was somebody splashing water on her face, Zombina looked over to the right to see Manako, dressed and ready, sitting on the other bed with an empty glass. "The hell was _that_ for?!"

"Look at the time." Manako replied, completely irrelevant of the question. In a full business-attire getup and high-heels, and not seeming very happy, Manako's lack of warmth didn't get through to Zom the first time around.

"I don't care what time it is, I want to know why you just _had_ to splash ice-cold water on me!" Zombina yelled, further proving why the other members of M.O.N. usually _didn't_ wake her up prematurely.

"Smith is gone." Maneko stated bluntly, being unusually deadpan at the moment.

"What?" Zombina asked in confusion, her anger subsiding completely in an instant. Remembering what Manako said right beforehand, Zombina looked over at the clock, which read 12:15.

_Their plane back home left two hours ago…._

"Smith is gone and I don't know where she went. I got up about 15 minutes ago, and I figured maybe she just left the room temporarily to get something." Maneko explained, her deadpan demeanor starting to go away. Not bothering to reply, Zombina immediately got out of bed and went to the closet on the far wall where their two bags were being stored. Since Americans were so uncertain of these other races, they agreed to just use two bags that belonged to Smith to avoid any altercations in an American airport. Unfortunately, it seems like that decision was going to be their downfall.

"The bags are gone. Smith left with the fucking _bags_ but not _us?!_" Zombina yelled, almost in disbelief. She knew Smith was underpaid, but this was _ridiculous_. "So, what do you suggest we do? Because those bags had our passports, our badges, _any_ form of identification to prove we're here legally."

"Well, we could see about going to the nearest Airport and-" Maneko started to suggest, both women freezing up with hope when the door to their room opened….

_and proceeded to lose said hope when a maid walked in._

"What are you two doing here? This room checked out a couple hours ago." The maid started to ask in confusion at their presence, freezing up when Manako looked up from the floor at her.

"Ah! Monster!" The maid screamed, pulling a bottle of window cleaner off the cart in the hall and throwing it at Maneko, her poor aim causing it to instead take out the bedside lamp.

"Hey, calm down!" Zombina contradictorily yelled, running out into the hall despite still only wearing a tank top, her underwear, and her dog tags, to stop the maid. Granted her definition of _stop_ was to get a solid hold of the maid's collar and yank to keep the maid from running away, which was a far-call from a gentle coercion.

"Please don't kill me!" The maid pleaded, seeming put off by Zombina's stitches. Head bobbing back slightly in surprise, Zom soon credited it to the American paranoia, rolling her eyes before ignoring the statement.

"Lady, listen: I need you to calm down, and tell me how we get to the nearest Airport." Zombina asked, remembering Manako's idea briefly touched on an Airport before the maid showed up.

"I….I….I…." The maid stuttered, trying Zombina's patience.

"English! Please _speak it!_" Zombina tried to coerce, finding it ironic that the person who knew English as a _secondary_ language was demanding that it be spoken. When the maid continued to be useless, Zombina let her go and motioned for her to leave, watching as the panicked maid took off down the hallway. She would've tried further to make the maid talk, but Zombina didn't want to be stuck in a foreign country with no proof of legal passage _and_ be wanted for attempted murder.

"How long do you think we have before the maid gets the police?" Manako asked, still stung over the Monster comment. Not being a very confrontational person, whatever desire to take the closest thing to a sharp object on that cart and hunt down the maid that Manako might've had was minuscule at best.

"Probably….an hour, give or take?" Zombina guessed, rolling her eyes as the maid tripped, stumbled, and almost face-planted into the door of a janitorial closet she was trying to hide in.

"You really think it would take that long?" Manako wondered, slightly confused.

"Well, it'll probably take about 15 minutes for her to calm down and comprehend what she just saw, another 20 to convince _anybody_ she isn't taking something strong, then another 20 to get the police to believe her, let alone come out here. _Plenty_ of time for us to go if we hurry." Zombina guessed, walking back into the room to grab a pair of black cargo pants, her brown leather bomber jacket, and a pair of boots.

"What I was thinking is if we can get to a local Airport, maybe we can explain who we are and try to work out some method of getting back home?" Maneko suggested, knowing that both of them had more than enough money to get them home. As such, the challenge wasn't money, but rather getting _to _the airport without causing half the town to go crazy.

"I doubt any Airport would just let a Zombie and a Cyclops on a plane, even if we already paid for and missed a flight, but I don't have a better suggestion." Zombina half-countered, finishing the laces on her boots. With both of them ready to leave, the two monsters left the room. "Got any ideas on a good place to ask for directions to the nearest Airport?"

"Well, I remember seeing a firearms and fireworks shop just down the road…..Maybe the owner will know the land." Maneko figured, narrowing her one eye in disdain as they passed a janitorial closet. Hurrying to the elevator, both women wasted no time in setting it to the bottom floor.

"Sounds good to me. Just hold my hand and look at the floor while we're passing through the lobby, don't want to attract any attention." Zombina suggested, figuring that the desk attendant wouldn't be more cyclops-friendly than the maid. Watching as the elevator doors slid open, the two monsters wasted no time in fast-walking out the door, trying to look as few people in the eye as possible. Soon transitioning her one-hand leading into pulling Manako close and wrapping her left arm around Manako's shoulders while the right held Manako's right arm, Zom's admitted personal concern for her friend was shining through a bit more than usual. Going to the edge of the parking lot, Manako started to scan for the aforementioned shop while Zom looked out for anyone staring them down in a funny manner.

"_Ah!_ There it is." Manako exclaimed, pointing to across the street and a small ways down the road to their right. Following Manako's finger, Zombina tried to read the shop name.

"_Boomtown Firearms and Fireworks…._ Huh, if we were staying, I'm sure I'd like the place. Come on, we'll never get home if we just stand here." Zombina pointed out, grabbing Manako's wrist again. Crossing the street, the duo made their way to the front door of the shop and pushed their way inside without a second thought.

"Welcome to Boomtown Firearms and Fireworks, how can I help you?" A middle-aged man, who hurried to get behind the counter, asked as the two women entered. Seeming friendly, the man was just another generically indifferent late-40's white male with a bit of faint facial hair, black hair that was greying in some spots, and a well-worn, but not _too _battered face that could still seem friendly. Dressed in a grey polo shirt and a white apron, the speed at which he got behind the counter made it hard to see what pants he had on, but that was a minuscule detail.

"Sorry, we're not here to buy anything. We need to know the way to the nearest airport…..you got a map or something?" Zombina asked, deciding to take 'point' since her non-human aspects were more easily written off. Seeming cooperative, the man nodded and pulled out a map, which he proceeded to lay out on the table.

"Well, I've found that the quickest way is if you go up-" The man, whose nametag stated was Yorick, the manager, started to explain. Abruptly cutting himself off when Manako stepped up to try and look at the map too, Yorick stepped back and pulled an Ithaca 37 shotgun out from behind the counter.

"The fuck are you doing?! We're just looking at the map!" Zombina yelled, throwing her hands up to show she wasn't armed in hopes of calming the man down. More worried for Manako's sake than her own, it was this same concern that kept her from just tanking the potential shotgun blast and yanking it from his hands.

"Oh no, I've heard about you freaks on the TV: what you're doing over in Japan and all that. Well you're _not_ getting me too! Get the _hell_ out of my store!" Yorick threatened, racking the slide on his shotgun. Not wanting Manako to get shot, Zombina complied, taking Manako's hand again as she led the Cyclops outside. Swiftly exiting the store to avoid testing Yorick, Zom waited until the door was closed to vent her frustrations.

"God _dammit!_ We were _that_ close to getting out of here!" Zombina yelled in annoyance, sitting down on the hood of a dark grey muscle car in the parking lot. Her anger became more focused, however, when she noticed Manako's distinctly souring expression.

"I guess I really am just a freak…." Manako almost moped, her insecurities rising up again. "Uh….Zom, where are you going?"

"To cost this guy some money." Zombina answered, walking back into the store when she noticed Yorick had gone towards the back end. Pushing the door open slowly, she crept in and looked around for something she could use up to deny Yorick some profits, while still getting out of there before he could notice. Spotting a box of 'Flyin' Fiyaworks!' laying on a table near the middle of the store, Zombina got an evil idea. Snatching a box of matches and a Swiss Army Knife from the checkout counter, she snuck over to the box of fireworks.

"Don't want to help a couple freaks, huh? Well we'll see who's laughing when you're watching money explode right in your face." Zombina chuckled, cutting open the box and dumping the fireworks inside out on the table. Laying them in a line facing towards the manager's office, Zombina lit a match and set off all of the fireworks, but not before leaving a note that read 'Alas, Poor Yorick's Profits….'. Now content, she wasted no time sprinting out of the store to not be here when he came back. With the long fuse each one had, she and Manako could be _well_ out of sight before they went off.

"Why are you so happy?" Manako asked, fearing that Zombina 'took care' of Yorick.

"I went back inside and lit some of that asshole's fireworks. If we go _now,_ we can be out of the way before he comes out here." Zombina smiled, imagining the expression on his face when he saw his product being expended.

_Maybe I'll get lucky and the fireworks I set off will trigger even more f-_ Zombina started to think, her thoughts soon being thrown upside down by a loud explosion coming from within the store that was on-par with a bomb. Whipping around, Zombina's jaw almost literally dropped as she saw a plume of smoke rising from the roof of the store, various bits of debris, presumably remains of the roof, still sailing towards them.

"What did you do?!" Manako yelled as she jerked to a standing position, completely bewildered.

"I lit the guys' fireworks and ran out of the store! I didn't think things would start blowing up!" Zombina yelled back, trying to defend her innocence.

"Well did you see anything that the fireworks might've sailed into?!" Maneko continued to yell, becoming more and more worried.

"Well there was a….._oh shit_….." Zombina stopped, realization of just how bad the situation has become.

"_A…?_" Maneko inquired, not liking where this was going.

"I set the fireworks up in such a way that they would sail towards the managers' office. I _might_ have forgotten to consider the open boxes of vintage gunpowder sitting by said door." Zombina weakly explained, a sheepish grin on her face. Realizing that it was becoming heavily implied that she has essentially killed Yorick, as well as committing arson, something dawned on Zombina that made her feel even _more _at fault here:

_Why didn't we just flag down a cab and have them take us to the airport?_


	2. Newfound Suspects

Chapter 2: Newfound Suspects

_8 hours after the store explosion….._

"Well, this is just great. We're stuck in a foreign country, I killed a guy with _fireworks_, _**and**_ we lost all our money." Zombina complained, looking back down at the stab wound where that mugger had gotten her. Still angry over the mugger because of how underhanded his execution was, it was a matter that, despite the futility of doing so, Zom was probably going to continue to complain about it for at _least _the next few days. _Probably a week or so._

"And worst of all, we don't even have a phone to call Ms. Smith and have her come back here to get us." Manako added, unable to stop from wondering if this really _was_ her fault.

"Even then, she's most likely back in Japan by now, so just a payphone wouldn't cut it." Zombina corrected, not enjoying saying it whatsoever.

"Yeah…..surely there's some way to get us both out though. Like it or not, we're probably going to be finding our own way out of this." Maneko pointed out, trying to assess their options. Both of them knew how to drive, but that wouldn't directly get them back home. And neither of them knew how to drive a boat or fly a plane of any kind, so unless there was a revolutionary new Hang-Glider that could take them from a mountain range in the U.S. all the way to Japan, this would take technical finesse that they didn't have.

"There's no guarantee that the police know it was me who blew that store up, so lets rule out stealing a plane or boat until we_ know_ we're in trouble with the law, at which point it would make little difference. Maybe raise some money and just buy two more tickets?" Zombina suggested, noticing a small scuffle going on ahead of them. Specifically, it was a….'less-than-fit for duty'…policeman, who was almost comically struggling against a two-bit street mugger. Getting an idea that she would come to regret in the future, Zombina motioned for Manako to follow, thinking that maybe they could get some assistance from the policeman if they helped him out.

Preparing to sneak up on the mugger and get him from behind, the plan was utterly ruined when the policeman shoved the mugger back to get some breathing room, to which the mugger responded by pulling out what looked to be a Glock 21 handgun and shooting the policeman three times. Realizing what he had done, the mugger turned around, saw Zombina, and got an idea. Shooting himself in the thigh, the mugger then tossed the gun to Zombina as he fell to the floor. Making matters _even worse _somehow, the now-deceased Policeman's partner had just come sprinting out of a nearby shop upon hearing all the gunfire.

"Hey man, this crazy bitch just shot me!" The mugger called out, pointing to a _very_ guilty-looking Zombina, who was still holding what was technically the mugger's pistol.

"Oh, you piece of-!" Zombina started to swear, quickly stopping when she saw the other cop drawing his gun. Pocketing the pistol out of habit, Zom turned towards Manako and essentially pushed her down slightly while wrapping her arms around her, all in an attempt to be a sort of meat-shield for Maneko as the policeman opened fire. Being hit directly in the back by the policeman's sidearm, Zombina waited for the barrage to end before quickly pushing Manako away. "Run!"

"We've got an officer down and civilian wounded, suspect and accomplice fleeing on foot. Suspect is wearing black pants, a brown bomber jacket, possibly a bulletproof vest, and is to be considered armed and dangerous." The policeman spoke into his handheld radio, running towards the mugger and his dead partner to check on them.

"I just _had_ to have a good conscience!" Zombina yelled, breaking off into the alleyways with Manako close behind as the sound of police sirens and flashing lights became more and more noticeable. Avoiding the mounds of trash and cardboard piling up in the alleyways, Zombina actually displayed some adeptness in agility, whereas Manako was struggling.

"Can you wait?! I've got no depth perception _and_ I'm wearing heels!" Maneko called out, much preferring the flat shoes she was used to wearing when she needed to run somewhere. Despite the gravity of the situation, Zombina still slowed down, not wanting to abandon the one person in this country who was on her side. Stopping altogether to assess their situation, hope was looking up just a tiny bit, even if Zom was skeptical about it.

"Alright, there's a fence over here. Lets hop it and try to hide somewhere until they call off the search." Zombina suggested, giving Manako a boost over the fence. Oddly enough, the Cyclops climbed over the fence before disappearing with a small yelp and a loud crash that _didn't _sound like hitting hard concrete."….Manako?"

Figuring something must've happened, Zombina wasted no time in climbing up over the fence to see what happened. Sure enough, instead of solid ground immediately on the fence's other side, there was 15-foot drop, and a world of hurt at the bottom:

_Face, meet dumpster lid._

"Agh, _dammit!….._" Zombina groaned after rolling off of the top of the dumpster, almost positive her skull was cracked a little bit now. Still unable to find Manako, her search was put to an end when the dumpster lid lifted itself, revealing Manako hiding inside.

"Are you alright?" Manako asked, having had an open dumpster filled with trash bags to cushion her fall, which was a luxury that Zom probably would've killed for.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Still wasn't very pleasant to find out there was a 15-foot drop." Zombina answered, getting to her feet as the voice of a possible police officer could be heard in the distance.

"I think I heard something over here!" The possible officer called out, probably part of the search party tracking them down. Having no better option, Zombina quickly turned and climbed into the dumpster with Manako, who then let go of the lid as it slammed closed.

"Alright, just roll over, face the bottom of the dumpster, and try not to move. If that guy comes and opens the dumpster, just try to play dead. With any luck he won't know exactly who he's looking for and think we're a couple murder victims stashed in a dumpster. That'll present problems in the long run, but hopefully he'll go away long enough for us to get away." Zombina suggested, flattening herself out to face the top of the dumpster.

"But….then he'd just call that in and have more cops show up." Manako pointed out, not seeing the logic here.

"Yeah, but I've got an open, bleeding wound on my stomach and multiple gunshot wounds, so I really look like a corpse. If he finds us in here, presumes we're both dead, and I sit up and start acting like a Romero Zombie, he'll probably get scared shitless and run." Zombina corrected her plan under the guise of elaboration, seeing the faint glint of a flashlight through the cracks of the dumpster lid. "Quiet, here he comes."

Closing her eyes and waiting, the sound of the lid being lifted could eventually be heard, Zombina actually able to notice the distinct change in light as the policeman shined his flashlight into the dumpster.

"Dispatch, I've got two dead bodies in a dumpster out here. Both female by the looks of it, and one almost looks….sewn together." The policeman called over his radio, inspecting the 'bodies' further. Guessing that this guy wasn't leaving, Zombina opened her eyes wide in a split-second, knowing that snapping them open instead of doing it slowly would get his attention more. Stepping back, the policeman continued to take gradual steps back as Zombina very slowly climbed out of the dumpster, intentionally making her movements look very jerky and 'zombie-like'. Getting to her feet slowly in an unbalanced manner, Zombina proceeded to shuffle towards the policeman at a slow pace, keeping her head tilted at an angle and her arms rigidly locked in their current position, very closely imitating a genuine 'dumb' zombie.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" The policeman yelled, aiming an 870P shotgun he had brought into the alley with him right at Zombina, who kept shuffling towards him. Surprisingly not losing his nerve, the policeman actually mustered the guts to fire, hitting Zombina right in the stomach. Thankfully the pellets more or less went right through her without much issue, but it still ruined her jacket, which was none-too-pleasing.

"Oh, _really_ asshole?! You know how _long_ I had to wait to get this damn thing shipped out to Japan when I ordered it?! And don't get me _started _on the import-taxes for a jacket that's _not _made from a cow's ass or somethin'!" Zombina yelled at the police officer, standing upright again and completely dropping the Romero schtick. Completely at a loss for words as to what he was comprehending, the police officer was now thoroughly scared, only making it a few more steps back before panic and anxiety made him cave in and pass out.

"Oh, wow, that….actually _worked_." Zombina noted flippantly, amazed that _messing up_ her plan was what made it work. "Alright, it's safe to come out."

"Did you kill him?" Manako asked, worried that they might have _two_ genuine murders on their hands. Poking her head up, the lack of blood was comforting towards her concern, but didn't outright disprove it.

"Nope: He shot me, I yelled at him for ruining my jacket, and he…..passed out. Must've found a dumb zombie to be easier to comprehend than a talking one." Zombina answered, looting the KO'd cop's pockets for spare ammo. Managing to pull a couple handfuls of 12 gauge shells and three mags of .44 rounds off of the cop, Zombina proceeded to take the man's sidearm, a Beretta 96FS, and hand it to Manako. "I'm hoping we don't need to use any of this, but I'd rather you be able to defend yourself if getting out of here means dealing with criminals."

"Thanks….One way or another, I'm not letting you get left behind." Manako promised as she made sure the safety was on and stuck the pistol in her jacket pocket, Zombina kneeling down to pick up the cop's 870P. The $160-worth of $20 bills in his wallet catching her eye too, it wasn't enough to get them out of here, but _certainly _plenty of padding to help them out in the short-term.

"As weird as it is to think that'll happen, I still appreciate the effort." Zombina thanked, dragging the unconscious cop off to the side of the alley before throwing some stray trash bags and cardboard boxes over him to hide him for now. "On the bright side, if we make it out of this, killing a man with $5 fireworks will be a story that'll stick around the office for a _long time_."

"Starting to take it as a bragging right?" Manako asked, glad in some twisted way that recent events haven't made Zom go soft.

"Right now? No. If we get out of this? _You bet I will._" Zombina laughed, trying to stick to the shadier parts of the alleys as they walked away, as a full-size 870P shotgun isn't exactly _pocketable. _Thinking on what they needed to deal with first, transportation was a _prime _candidate if they were going to do _anything _to get around. Also finding the grimy, shady streetlight-lit sidewalks to be none-too-comforting, a vehicle with lockable doors would go a _long _way in aiding Zom's peace of mind. "First things first though, we need a car, and _fast._"

"Well, we've killed a man, been framed for killing another, and robbed a cop…..Might as well take a car too, right?" Manako blurted with no previous indications, figuring that they're already in deep shit: _Might as well get deeper._

"Yeah, might as well….question is which kind? Some barely held-together junker car would be more trouble than it's worth, but something fancy like a luxury car would be too high-profile. What's a good in-between kind of car?" Zombina asked, hoping that a second head might help make up for the fact that neither one knew much about cars. Continuing to aimlessly walk down the sidewalk, the lack of any civilian or police presence nearby was promising for the moment, but concerning in regards to how long it'd last as both women looked around for a suitable car.

"_That_ might work." Manako pointed out, pointing to a nearby parking lot, where a lone man, probably in his mid-30's was smoking and sitting on the hood of a black Dodge Challenger with white racing stripes running up the hood and across the roof. "Not too luxurious, not too broken-down, and not ludicrously high on the buy-in requirements I'd imagine, so it'll probably be easy to not stick out."

"it would….take this and hide out of sight. I'll signal when it's clear to move in." Zombina instructed, handing Manako the 870 MCS and her bomber jacket. Walking over to the smoking man, Zombina could do nothing but pray to Romero that her recent injuries didn't stand out _too_ prominently. Clasping her hands over her stomach, Zom tried to make it look like a casual gesture rather than obvious wound-covering.

"Hey….lady…are you alright? You're all….stitched up." The man asked, noticing Zombina walk up. Not outright freaking out, he was nonetheless _immediately _suspicious, which did _not _bode well for her.

"Oh, that? I'm uh….a movie actress. I do all my own stunts, which has uh….made me accumulate a lot of ER trips over the years. You know, practical special effects gone wrong and all that." Zombina half-assed an explanation, unable to refrain from giving a sheepish grin. Feeling like things were starting to slip, Zom nonetheless kept it together.

"Right….So, why are you out here?" The man questioned, still somewhat suspicious.

"Well, one of my recent projects fell through, and I've been staying with my boyfriend at his place until something comes up. He and I got into an argument about the whole 'do my own stunts' thing, so I'm stuck out for the night. I saw you sitting here all alone on your car, and I figured maybe two lone souls would make good company for each other." Zombina continued to lie through her teeth, getting a bit smoother on the delivery.

"So you're a one-night bum and need some place to stay." The man guessed, still not very impressed.

"No, I've got my car for that. What I was hoping to get out of you was a little…entertainment." Zombina hinted, sitting down on the car hood with him. Seeming to get somewhere, the man's expression started to lighten up.

"Alright….are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" The man asked, getting up to snuff his cigarette out with his boot before laying down face-up lengthwise across the hood and windshield of his car.

"What do you think?" Zombina hinted, moving to position herself on top of him. Thinking he was really about to get some, the man was abruptly surprised when Zombina reached forward, grabbed him by the side of the head with one hand, and following it up with a series of straight-punches to the nose and eye-region. Giving him a right hook to finish it off, Zom then leaned forward, bringing her face right up to his. "Alright, listen closely: Give me the keys to your car and _maybe_ I won't have to bite off any _extremities_."

"Alright, alright, it's yours! Take it!" The man panicked, being put off by Zombina's mouth full of sharp, canine teeth. Being allowed to get up and off the car, the man reached into his pocket and tossed his car keys to Zom, a quick head motion from her indicating it was his time to run. Taking off without hesitation, it was probably only a matter of time before _he _called the cops too, meaning they needed to act fast.

"Alright, it's safe to come out." Zombina called, watching as Manako came out from around a nearby corner, still carrying Zombina's jacket and the 870P.

"At least it was _mostly_ painless….I have to ask though: Do we really need to hold onto this jacket?" Manako asked, trying to put emphasis on the multiple holes from 9mm rounds in the upper back, as well as the fact that the lower back looked like leather swiss cheese from the cop's 870P blast. Heaving a sigh, Zombina took the jacket from Manako, trading the jacket for the keys to their new Dodge in the process. Giving it one last look-over, Zombina eventually rolled it up and tossed it as far as she could before moving to the Challenger's passenger-side door.

"Just do me one favor: If we get out of this, speak of it to _no one_ that I threw my prized jacket away in the middle of a backend parking lot like that." Zom half-threatened, half-pleaded, not happy about it in the slightest.

"I promise. For now, lets get out of here. Maybe with some luck, we can find a somewhat decent place to sleep." Manako promised as she unlocked the driver-side door before getting in, unlocking the passenger-side door soon after. With both of them inside, the two Monsters drove off into the night, hoping first and foremost to find a way out of all this.

Post-Chapter Note

And there's chapter 2….sorry it took so long, there have been some personal ups and downs I've been having that I won't get into for the sake of not boring anyone who reads this, but long-story short is things weren't ok before, and now they are ok, so the rate of updates should increase.

Also, one thing I wanted to bring to attention is the big sister/little sister dynamic I'm trying to bring into play: It's established in the source material that Manako's quite sensitive, especially about her eye, whereas Zombina's a brash, almost gung-ho-like individual. As such, with the fact that they have been working together in a single unit for who knows how long, I figured that Zombina might display a somewhat lighter side exclusively towards Manako, being Maneko's one friend in this situation, while also making up for Manako's social shortcomings with her own balls-to-the-wall upfront-ness. This story isn't going to be some touchy-feely emotional drama-fest with Zom going soft or anything, I just figured it would be a nice little sub-theme to divert the story from just being "kill kill kill boom pretty explosions" the whole way through with no variety whatsoever.

Also, I'll be updating my profile with a list of the various sources of media that inspired aspects of my various stories, including this one, so be sure to take a look at that if you're interested to see what (primarily music) influenced this story among others by me.


	3. Gaining Direction

Chapter 3: Gaining Direction

_Two days later, 6:40PM….._

"For someone who wants to leave the country as soon as possible, you've _certainly_ adapted to the local lifestyle pretty well." Manako pointed out, reading through a local newspaper in hopes of finding any tiny shred of something to help them out. Be it asking for cheap labor, a one-off ad looking for help, _anything _that would make them fast money to get them out of here.

"Hey: We may be trying to escape, and I may be dead, but I can still get hungry, and this place _certainly_ doesn't take a heavy hit on our funds." Zom defended, having been munching on a cheap fast-food hamburger as they sat at a bench outside of said fast-food place. The decor being basic, drab, faded colors, primarily withered red and grey, it was a sad-looking place that seemed like it had the potential to be bright and colorful at one point, but was just in such disrepair like the rest of the area that it fell from grace. And best of all, the place was nice and quiet, with not a soul around save for the employees inside and the occasional passer-by on the sidewalk, which made things easier on Manako. "So…..have you found anything yet, or is it all divorcees and celebrity rehab?"

"I….think you've got the type of paper mixed up on that one, but no, nothing so far. Just a bunch of nonsense on police corruption scandals and government politics nagging back and forth without actually getting anywhere." Manako answered, starting to get tired of scanning every last inch of the newspaper. "Wait, here's something. It says here a local gang has been on a spree committing an array of different felonies, and the local police department is offering a $500 reward to any civilians who assist in the manhunt of their lieutenant at the head of the spree, a Mr. Hackett Wesner."

"If that alone doesn't get us there, it'll definitely get us close…." Zombina pointed out as she thought about this new development. Starting off tame with the lay-low mindset, things _swiftly _developed in a _far _more violent direction, namely when factoring in her own immortality.

"It's just asking for any sufficient info to assist the local PD in killing him, so we'll just drive around a bit and see if we can spot any tells on where he's hiding. We're already in a bit deep, so the _less _we stick our necks out at this point, the better." Manako tried to direct, quickly not understanding why she expected Zom to follow.

"_Eh…._I've got a _better_ idea." Zom replied, lightly gesturing to the Glock 21 stuck behind her belt. Cracking a sharp-tooth-filled, deadly smile, it was becoming abundantly clear that her mind was made up.

"They're only asking for information. Is it _really_ necessary to go in there shooting, assuming we even find him?" Manako questioned, knowing it would be _quite_ hard to drive her off from this idea.

"They're asking _normal_ people to just give information. It doesn't say anything about outright killing him being bad assuming someone can do it, _right?_" Zombina asked, not seeing how this was bad for someone who couldn't die. Not so much planning on roping Manako into this _directly,_ the idea was more Manako points, she shoots.

"Well, _no_, but…." Manako admitted, not really having a strong argument.

"Then let's go. I remember seeing some guys on the way here, outside a condemned-looking apartment complex, that looked like they were part of a gang, so they _might_ be with the group we're looking for." Zom explained, getting up and turning to walk towards their Challenger. Not waiting for Manako to get up too, Zom only stopped when Manako spoke up.

"And if they're _not?_" Manako tried to challenge, albeit hopelessly.

"We shoot 'em anyway, not like it'd be the _first _offense we've gotten ourselves into in the past two days." Zom retorted, starting to walk away again. Wincing, Manako _knew_ that arguing further was a hopeless battle as she got up.

"I'll drive…..Just let me know where they are so I can park a small distance away. The _last_ thing we need is a vehicle that's shot _and_ stolen." Manako sighted, speed-walking to catch up before getting in the driver side. Not liking this idea in the slightest, it was better to go with Zom and make sure it was done right than to try and butt heads, which would probably result in Zom simply doing it on her own with less assistance. Slowly pulling out, Manako was _incredibly _hopeful that Zom wasn't bluffing about it only being a short distance, since with her monocular vision, the less driving she had to do, the better.

"Just go back the way we came, it was some drab brown, busted-looking apartment complex that looked borderline condemned. With any luck, they'll either still be there, or they'll leave the door unlocked." Zom instructed, putting some spare mags she had bought the day before into her pocket as she got in. "You know, something just hit me: Remember Tio?"

"Yeah….starting to miss her?" Manako teased, which was a far venture from her usual demeanor. Driving slow, both Monsters were gazing out their respective sides for the most part, Manako looking for a building that fit Zom's description while Zom looked for a building that matched her memory.

"Only slightly…but I was thinking: Can you imagine how different things would be if she were stuck here with us?" Zombina almost chuckled, thinking about how much humorously worse things would probably be with Tio here. Despite that, the Zombie _did _still miss both of their old teammates, _especially _with Tio's ability to brighten nearly any grim situation.

"Well, first we wouldn't have this car: It would take a _pickup truck_ to carry _her_ around." Manako pointed out, trying to stifle a laugh at Tio's indirect expense. Joining in on the joking, Manako nonetheless felt the same, figuring the current problem would be looked upon _far _more lightly if Tio were here.

"A pickup truck? Frankly, I was thinking more along the lines of an _eighteen-wheeler_. And hiding her in a crowd if we ran from the police? We'd need to bronze her up like a statue and hope she holds still!" Zombina joked, almost finding it incomprehensible how they would be able to keep a low profile with a horned giant like Tio among them. "Wait, here's the place, on the right…guys are gone, and I don't recognize the woman, but the rest is spot-on."

Sure enough, up ahead of them and off to the right a bit was a tall, full-scale apartment complex made of drab brick and mortar, with rickety wooden doors, faded windows, and a myriad of graffiti plastered on the walls outside. Some of the windows even having wooden boards over them from the inside, Zom wasn't sure if the place was a gang hideout, or just flat out condemned and abandoned. The only soul outside being a single woman of a similar stature to her, Zom didn't recognize the person, but was willing to attempt being friendly as they pulled up.

"Alright, get out here. Once you're done with these people, head over to the general store just down the block, I'll be waiting around the side. Should keep any rounds from hitting the car, which is the _last _thing we need with a car that's already stolen." Manako half-ordered as Zom stepped out of the car, getting ready for the worst. Walking up to the mystery woman, she was leaned against the wall just next to the door, seemingly anxious. Standing 5'4" with blonde hair that reached halfway down her back, it possessed a number of black, vertical-line highlight streaks throughout, which fit well with her black lips. Wearing a black sagged beanie, black choker necklace, a dark grey zipped-up hoodie jacket, and somewhat loose black jeans along with a pair of heavy, grey work boots, the woman looked like a shifty criminal or a junky of some kind, but still, Zom approached.

"Hey…any particular reason you're waiting around out here?" Zom asked, not sure who this woman was or what she was doing out here. Leaning against the wall with her right foot placed against the wall and her arms crossed, her initial glance at Zom wasn't quite _threatening_, just highly suspicious. Dignifying Zom's approach with a response nonetheless, things were shaky, but they had a good chance to go somewhere.

"Are you asking that because you're here for the guys inside or you think I look lonely? No offense, but if you think _I _look like a side-alley hooker, you're not much prettier yourself, stiff-tits." The woman jabbed, having a fair point given Zom's messy hair, hole-riddled shirt, and the fact that she smelled like trash after literally falling in a dumpster. Finding the stiff-tits comment to be slightly odd, it had Zom's attention given how specific it was. Leaning against the wall next to the woman, Zom did so leaning with her right arm up, facing towards the mystery woman rather than facing out towards the street like her possible accomplice.

"Uh….._stiff-tits?_ What's that supposed to mean?" Zom asked, playing dumb about her Rigor Mortis just in-case this woman's point was totally unrelated. Smiling, possibly out of genuine humor, possibly out of pity, the woman let her right foot touch the ground as she turned to face Zom directly, cutting to the chase.

"You're _really _not good at spotting other Zombies, are you? The name's Aderyn Derrow, and yes, I _can _spot another person suffering from Rigor Mor-Tit-Is a mile away. When you've had it long enough, you start to notice it in other Zombies too." Aderyn introduced, leaning sideways on the wall much like Zom was as she undid her choker, revealing a line of stitches halfway up her neck. Being a full circle of stitches, almost like a choker-style necklace all its own, the grievous implications were that she'd been full-on decapitated at some point and simply sewed her own head back on. Putting the choker in her jacket pocket, the smile Aderyn gave showed she was _greatly _enjoying Zom's surprise in the matter.

"Name's Zombina, but just call me Zom instead…and really? Rigor Mor-_Tit-Is?_ _That's _what gave it away?" Zom questioned, both questioning Aderyn's pun _and _how a stiff rack was what gave her away as a Zombie. Unfortunately, pressing for an explanation turned out to be even worse than simply leaving it alone.

"Well, that was only secondary. The _big _thing was you look like you tried to French-kiss a weed whacker with those stitches across your nose. That _and _I can see the gauze through the holes in your shirt, have some gang problems lately?" Aderyn asked, being more observant than Zom initially gave her credit for. Strongly feeling the burn off the weed-whacker comment, Zom opted to briefly roll her eyes and swallow her pride, taking the metaphorical punch in hopes Aderyn would soon be more useful and less sarcastic.

"Close…misunderstanding with the cops, felt the effects of it a little bit. If laying it out for you will get you to be a bit more friendly, my friend saw something about a bounty out on a Hackett Wesner, and I saw some gang-looking guys when we passed by here earlier. I figured they might be connected, so here I am, getting told I look like a paramour for lawn appliances by a Zombie I just met. Are you here for them too, or are you just practicing your Roasting skills on anyone that comes by?" Zom clarified, admittedly not having _perfect _control over hiding her annoyance. Aderyn smiling once again, this one seemed different, more like a smile of admiration rather than pity.

"I like you, you can take a few jabs without whining about it…as for Hackett, my boss wants him dead, and an associate of mine said there should be some good info to find Hackett in here. Problem is I'm a single woman on the short side of things who doesn't particularly _enjoy _getting shot, so I haven't just kicked the door in because I've been waiting for one of these clowns to come out for something so I could grab him, see if he could tell me how many guys are inside. But, with you here…you said you've already tangled with the cops?" Aderyn inquired, drawing a Smith &amp; Wesson Model 22 Revolver that was short enough to discreetly fit in her jacket pocket. Drawing her own gun, Zom wasn't _totally _hooked on this woman yet, but couldn't help but agree with her thought process.

"That I did…I haven't _killed _any yet, but I doubt anyone worth crying over lives in a place like this, so I'm game." Zom clarified, eager to take point on this one.

"I haven't even explained the plan, and yet you already know what to do…..something tells me we're gonna get along _just _fine." Aderyn smiled, oddly walking up to the double-doors and knocking. Confused, Zom could only stare and wonder at how distinctly _not_ violent Aderyn's opening was, the thought only changing once someone opened the door. Sounding like a poorly-educated gangbanger, the man asking who was around got a _completely _different kind of bang as the door cracked open enough for Aderyn to see him, the Zombie putting a round through his leg. Falling right forward with his head in the way of the door, Aderyn took advantage, grabbing the door and swinging it to slam the man's head between the two doors. Disregarding him afterwards, the blonde Zombie swung the door open and stepped inside to exchange fire with another gang member, catching a round in the thigh in the process. Aderyn winging the shooter in the shoulder, Zom's two-handed grip VS Aderyn's one-handing, combined with Zom's better training and experience left her shots more on-target, two in the upper chest and one in the head as she entered while Aderyn half-shambled into the right wall.

"Nice shot….you a professional or something? Hitman, cleaner, anything like that?" Aderyn asked, only slightly thrown off-kilter by the bullet rather than crippled not ten seconds into their raid. The room they stepped into seeming like not much more than the open base for a stairwell on their right, two more doors at the far end of the room were kicked open as another gangster, this one with an old Ithaca 37 shotgun, entered with just a _little _too much adrenaline in his system. Starting to yap out a quote about his little friend, the hopeless gangster was cut down almost like it was a secondhand thought, both women simply turning their heads, pointing their guns, and dumping some ammo to drop him with an inaccurate volley of fire. Just as carelessly turning their attention back to each other, it was almost as if the threat of the shotgun-wielding gangster had never been processed to begin with. "So yeah, like I said: Hitman? Cleaner? Mercenary, any of that?"

"Close…..it's a long story, but long story short, I was a cop back home. Not a beat cop, it was…eugh, it's a story for another time, there's all sorts of Extraspecies Laws stuff I'd need to explain for it to make sense. As for my aim, when you get good at shooting _two _guns at once, two-handing a single gun's _easy_." Zom dodgily explained, trying to skirt around giving the long explanation about M.O.N's entire purpose now that they've most likely pissed off half the apartment complex. Aderyn's expression mildly souring, things didn't look _bad, _but they didn't look _amazing _either as the blonde Zombie pocketed her revolver, walking over to take the dead man's Ithaca instead. Patting his pockets down for spare shells, it wasn't a goldmine, but it was spare ammo nonetheless as Aderyn pocketed the spare shells.

"Well, I know _plenty _about the Extraspecies laws over in Japan, so when this is over, you can have _all _the time in the world to explain what that has to do with you being a cop. Considering you're not painfully self-righteous, your not-a-beat-cop part checks out so far…..if it's an act, let's hope you're a _really _good actor, stiff-tits." Aderyn almost vaguely threatened, understandably cautious now that the cop angle made its way into the picture. Regretting saying it, and knowing there was _no _way to take it back, Zom instead simply went with it as she followed the blonde Zombie up the stairs. "That associate of mine I mentioned has a ton of contacts, some of 'em are Inside Men in this gang, and one-such contact mentioned the info I'm looking for is on the sixth floor, far back left room from the street side of the building. Unfortunately, he was too afraid of having his hand cut off if he tried to steal the info or even take a picture of it, so he settled for just telling us the where. I'm not the most graceful person in Texas, so heading up to the roof and doing some kind of rope-act down to the window is out of the question. We get to the sixth floor, shoot any guy waving a gun at us, and hope they don't light the info on fire before we get there. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but, cutting off the guy's _hand_? What is this, some kind of Jamaican drug cartel?" Zom asked, throwing a random example out there for what kind of organized crime would take hands like that.

"They _are _Jamaican actually….at the top at least. _These _schmoes are just whatever degenerates in Texas are down on their luck and willing to shoot people for a living. Race, age, height, doesn't matter. Hell, they don't even have a _uniform _at this low level in the chain, it's just whatever the hell each guy feels like wearing. No set color scheme, no signifying marks, makes it _really _easy for them to pass the blame off as random, aimless criminals whenever they do something. Also makes it _very _annoying to spot a gang member from anyone else at times….at least, until they pull a gun on you." Aderyn elaborated, the two trudging up the dull, dark grey, echoey stairwell. The same drab brown walls being present in here too, Zom couldn't help but notice that _everything _in this town felt bleak, from the people to the architecture. Making her feel even more alien to the locals, the long-winded thought about being out of place was interrupted as another gang member, who was hurrying down the stairs as fast as he could, awkwardly happened upon the two Zombies when they were rounding the turn to walk from Floor Four to Five.

"Hey man, I found the-!" The man started to call out as he drew a Smith &amp; Wesson SIGMA pistol from behind his belt, his red-flannel shirt getting more red as Aderyn fired her Ithaca, the now-dead gangster fumbling forward and past them down the stairs while they walked up. Not lingering on it, the two continued to advance up the stairs, running across two more gangsters on their way there. Going for them, Zom went for a low-blow, firing her Glock at the lead gangster's crotch before catching him as he fell forward. Holding him up with her left hand to use as a meat-shield, Zom tripped up the second gangster with a few rounds in the shins, followed by a headshot, only to get 'rewarded' with Aderyn executing her meatshield with a near-point-blank shotgun blast. Flinging blood all around and nearly busting Zom's ear, the Zombie couldn't help but fall to a half-sitting position on the stairs. Her left hand flat over her left ear, Zom was visibly irate as Aderyn racked the slide with a smug smile.

"Next time, could you try _not _doing that? I know you have to hear yourself speak all the time, but not _everyone's _used to loud, sharp noises in their ear." Zom jabbed, knowing Aderyn did it intentionally. Obviously not amused, Aderyn nonetheless showed enough professionalism to not let things spiral out of control as, instead of offering a counter-remark or hitting Zom, the blonde Zombie instead helped her up. Continuing to take point due to her shotgun, the trek up to Floor Six was gangster-free from there, which would be compensated by the amount of them on the floor itself. Stepping into the hall, it was just as decrepit as the outside of the building, but even _more _foreboding.

With faded hardwood floors, drab brown walls dotted with flecked, chipping wallpaper, and a few cracks of sunlight creeping in to mix with low-quality, questionably-functional lightbulbs, the creaking of the wood as both boot-wearing women stepped onto the floor was unsettling at best. Slowly walking down the hall, their footsteps were painfully punctual as they looked left and right, Aderyn pointing her shotgun diagonally upwards to the left with the bottom facing out, not actively drawing, but ready to do so at a moment's notice. Getting about halfway down the hallway before they heard a door close, both Zombies stopped dead like it was a loaded gun, a few more seconds of silence going by. Feeling like it was nothing after all, that feeling was thoroughly stripped as a cacophony of gunfire erupted through the walls, the gangsters having been lying in wait to ambush them. Immediately sprinting back towards the stairs and muscling open the furthest doorway on their right with a combination of Aderyn's shotgun followed by Zom's boot, the duo found a perfect line of sight to the end of the floor.

The gangsters having knocked some of the walls out to make for an impromptu base, their lack of intellect was absolutely _shining _through, along with their lack of communication. Expecting them to turn on the two Zombies at some point, some of the gangsters were outright dead while others were wounded or taking cover, still exchanging fire through the walls. Obviously thinking Aderyn and Zom had stood their ground in the middle of the ambush, it was almost pitiful to see rounds come flying through the walls and striking gangsters, sometimes lethally, as it was guaranteed to be from their unwitting friends. Only pushing due to the threat of the info getting just as perforated, the two Zombies kept their heads down as they laid siege to the wounded, confused gangsters. Seeing an opportunity for some fun, Zom put away her Glock in favor of snatching up two of the dead gangsters' MAC-11 machine pistols. Seeing the evil smile on Zom's face a mile off as the green-haired Zombie grabbed any spare mags she could, even leaving a few of her Glock ones behind to grab more MAC-11 ones, Aderyn couldn't help but comment.

"About to show off some of that two-handed skill you said you have?" Aderyn commented, aimlessly firing her shotgun into the wall based on where the bullets seemed to be coming from. Hearing a muffled scream, it seemed to be working. Getting up with one MAC-11 in each hand, Zom moved back towards the door they entered through, causing Aderyn to follow.

"I planned nothing less…..if you can, soften up the door a bit from here and I'll kick it in, then we mop them all up in tandem?" Zom offered, both guns by her side as she winced slightly, still more haphazard rounds from the gangster-on-gangster gunfight flying through.

"Yeah, just don't shoot into each other's sides, otherwise we're no brighter than they are." Aderyn pointed out, firing a shell into the general vicinity of the doorknob. Moving off to deal with their current side, Aderyn left the green-haired Zombie to it as she took a deep breath, preparing to go nuts as she ran into the hall before, without stopping, plowing the door open with her left shoulder. Surprising a gangster that had been tipped off by Aderyn perforating the door, he got a similar treatment as Zom lit him up with both guns, extending the courtesy to his friends not long after. Only taking a moment to reload, Zom was finally starting to enjoy herself a little _too _much, running through the smashed-out wall to transition from one room to the other in her half of the floor. Her abrasive approach catching their attention, she _dared _them to try and stop her, lightly spraying one gangster before whacking a second in the side of the head with the top of her right MAC-11.

Firing both guns into his stomach, Zom then got her arms under his armpits, using him like a shield to then cock both guns sideways and mag-dump at the next visible target. Dropping her meat-shield afterwards, Zom ran forward once again to aggressively meet the next target up close, swinging her right leg into the side of his abdomen. Making the man stumble shoulder-first into the wall, Zom's lack of any ammo being actively loaded coupled with her dual-wielding left her in a finicky spot. Resorting to getting her arms under the man's arms once again, this one was less fortunate as Zom took advantage of her canine-like sharp teeth, lunging for a neck-bite. Making sure to take plenty of it with her to avoid him coming back as a fellow Zombie, Zom nonetheless spat it out when she pulled back, figuring a little blood on the mouth wasn't much different from the blood splattered all over the left side of her head following Aderyn's point-blank shot in the stairwell. Carrying on to the last room, Zom's attention immediately jerked to the right at the sight of movement, aiming her right MAC-11 at it.

An unarmed woman huddled in the corner, she looked like some kind of hispanic gangster's girlfriend, namely by dressing the part as she hid in the corner of the room. Rolling her eyes, Zom flicked her wrist back over her right shoulder in a 'Go on, leave' motion, prompting the woman to get up and sprint out. Feeling the cathartic adrenaline rush start to bleed out, Zom sighed in satisfaction as she dropped both guns carelessly, stretching her arms behind her head a bit before casually opening the nearest door to get back into the hallway. Noticing no more gunshots, Zom leaned by the last door on the opposite side of the hall, deciding to knock on it a few times with her left-hand knuckles. Waiting for a response, a few seconds of silence revealed some shuffling, banging, and other sounds of a scuffle. Knocking again, the door got a hard knock from the other direction as it completely fell outwards. Aderyn being currently caught up with a heavily-tattooed, unusually-well-built gangster, the way they barged through the door left them with the man laying on his back atop the door, Aderyn back-first atop him with the man's arms around her neck.

"So….havin' a little trouble there?" Zom casually asked, not seeming to mind the stress-grunts both were emitting as the man tried to choke Aderyn unconscious while the blonde Zombie tried, and so far failed, to pull his arms off of her neck. Trying to bite his arm, Aderyn couldn't get her mouth in place, her attempts at stomping his legs also proving fruitless as she glared at Zom.

"You gonna _fuckin' shoot this guy or what?!_" Aderyn hissed, not able to speak too terribly loud due to her precarious position. Unfortunately, since Zom had the upper hand, she was going to take it.

"That depends…..do you trust me when I say me being a cop back home has _nothing _to do with how I'll treat you? And that I'm not an undercover trying to bring you in?" Zom asked, not realizing the hypocrisy of it since, at the moment, her wanting a confirmation from Aderyn in regards to this cop business is _why _she hadn't killed this gangster yet, meaning her status as a cop _was _affecting how she treated Aderyn. Obviously annoyed, Aderyn nonetheless capitulated, not able to deny Zom had the advantage here.

"Yeah, I'll drop the cop thing, just _shoot _this guy before I-" Aderyn capitulated, causing Zom to quickly draw her Glock pistol. Still having some rounds loaded, Aderyn sharply jerked her head to the side, getting it out of the way as Zom put one round through the gangster's head. The pressure easing up, Aderyn was finally able to get the man's arms off her neck, getting up soon after. Breathing deeply for a bit, Aderyn led Zom back through the door not long after, bringing their attention to a dark brown, thick, multi-drawer desk at the back of the room. Mostly looming over Aderyn's shoulder while the blonde Zombie dug through the many drawers and the haphazard scatterings of paper on top, it was more hanging close on-hand and less looming since, even though they were _both _short, Zom was 2" shorter than Aderyn. "I still want to hear the long-story about what kind of cop you are back home though…..you know, for curiosity's sake. I _lived _in Japan for a while before I fled back here, don't recall any of the cops having a knack for dual-wielding MAC-11s when I was there."

"Alright, well, to give the _long _version, you know the harming part of things? How humans can't legally hurt Monsters and vice-versa, and the whole crime loophole that causes?" Zom asked, sitting down on the edge of the desk. Still digging through the drawers, Aderyn seemed to be listening, but was visually occupied with her search.

"Yeah, what about it? Were you supposed to counter the loophole so Monsters can't freely commit crime or something?" Aderyn accurately guessed, giving Zom reason to believe she wasn't just some dense gang-banger herself. Surprised, that entire chunk of Zom's story was effectively tossed out the window due to accurate guessing.

"Well…._yeah_, actually. That's _exactly _what it was. With that out of the way faster than I expected, I guess I'll move on to why I'm here….me and my friend came here with our boss, Ms. Smith, to try and stop all the rumors that Japan's under invasion by the Monsters, prove it's a peaceful cohabitation, all that. Admittedly, the newspaper articles I saw about dead Minotaurs left in fields at the hands of mob mentality around here _weren't _exactly proving us wrong when we said it's a problem….more on point, we were supposed to go back to Japan a few days ago, and Smith _left us!_ Took the damn bags, but remembering the actual _people _she came here with? Too far for her friggin' comprehension apparently." Zom lightly ranted, admittedly happy to have someone she can shamelessly rip on Smith to for all the human had done to annoy her. And surprisingly, Aderyn could relate.

"Wait, _Smith?! The _Ms. Smith? Long black hair, sunglasses, looks like a wannabe of another Smith?" Aderyn asked, almost laughing with her initial sentence. Seemingly in disbelief, Aderyn's tone sharply spun around from frustrated to almost amused.

"Yeah, you seen her much?" Zom wondered, finding Aderyn's 'I've been to Japan' statement might not be a bluff considering how accurately she called out Smith's appearance. Still rifling through the drawers, Aderyn couldn't help but take a second to stop and laugh at Zom's situation, understanding it completely.

"_That_ basketcase got entrusted with looking after you two?! When I was in Japan, she hardly remembered to check her friggin' _voice-mail! _And yet they expected her to watch after two other people in a foreign country?! No _wonder _you got stuck here!" Aderyn laughed, the whole situation making _perfect _sense to her now. Unable to help from laughing with Aderyn on it, tensions were greatly lightening between them, which was a welcome sign given how turbulent things had been for a while there. "So what's got you _stuck here _then? You made it sound like you pissed off the cops a little bit, so what did you do? Caught stealing from a tip-jar?"

"Actually, I killed a man…with fireworks." Zom smiled, blowing Aderyn's joke out of the water with a true, albeit bizarre scenario. Stopping what she was doing, Aderyn took a moment to think on what she just heard. Not sure she heard that correctly, Aderyn's reaction was nigh-golden.

"With….fireworks? Like, Fourth of July fireworks?" Aderyn pressed for more info, not able to work out how that would possibly happen. Giving a sly smile, Zom could tell she had a _great _hook to lead by.

"You heard me, cheap, $5 fireworks out of a shitty fireworks shop. I lit them to waste some of the guy's money while he was in the back as revenge when he turned me and my friend away, walked outside, and as it turns out, one of them landed in some vintage gunpowder, ignited the _whole _damn thing. Probably killed the guy, trashed his shop, and made a _very _loud bang…we ran to get away before the police showed up, only to run into them later when a cop was struggling with a mugger. _I _thought I could be a good samaritan and help him out to maybe score us some good graces with the police, only the mugger shot the cop, shot himself in the leg, then tossed the gun at me and played the victim. Now, I'm not wanted for the crime I _did _commit, wanted for one I _didn't _commit, and sitting here with a woman I just met trying to claim bounty money on a guy I've never heard of before seeing him in a newspaper ad. Is _everything _in this country this crazy?" Zom explained in full, giving the total summary of events up to now.

"That's….wow. Hm, honestly, I…you _sure_ you don't want to stay? Not only are you kinda growing on me, if a woman can kill someone with $5 fireworks, they're good enough to watch _my _back…as for how crazy this country is, ever since the Monsters started showing up? Just you wait, you live here long enough, things get _nuts _sometimes." Aderyn admitted, unable to deny a bit of respect for Zom now. Finally finding something useful in the desk, Aderyn pulled it out with a renewed sense of hope on her face, the 'something useful' being a fat stack of files in a folder. Dropping it poignantly on the desk, Aderyn flicked the folder open before spreading some of the important bits out for Zom to see all at once. "_There we are….._this look nice or _what?_"

"It's a chain of command sheet….Hackett's at the top with these two guys, Farnell Jockby and Ivar Estevis directly below him. Got a plan for them?" Zom inquired, looking over the small chart that was among the sea of papers on the desk. Seeing nothing really special besides directions on who to call depending on your assigned location, it only further reinforced the lacking IQ jokes that the hallway gunfight might've started: _these idiots needed a sheet just to tell them which lieutenant they report to._

"I get one of them, you get the other, and between the two of us, we find Hackett. I doubt they'll tell us outright where he's at, but at least one of them is _bound _to have _something _useful. Phone conversations, offhand notes about meeting places and times, _something _that can point us in his direction. If we don't find _anything _between the two of us, I'm tearing half the neighborhood down, and judging by your little MAC-tear back there, you'd probably be willing to join me." Aderyn explained with an almost flirtatious smile on the end, finding more useful information deeper in the folder's contents. Flicking through the contents of a tan sub-folder hidden within the larger one, it was loaded with relevant info for Jockby, such as when he checks in at the gang's various fronts and other businesses around Texas.

"Just make sure you bring _plenty _of ammo if it comes to that…..me and my friend'll go after Farnell while you take Ivar, and then we'll meet up…somewhere. Sound good?" Zom suggested, having decided based on which one looked like they'd be more fun to shoot once they weren't useful anymore. Finally seeming to make a connection, the last of the hostility in regards to Zom's previous occupation was disappearing as Aderyn passed the Jockby sub-folder to her.

"Deal. Come find me at Club Venue in Downtown Houston when you've gotten your guy, it's where me and the guys I'm with hide out. Just tell the doorman that I like you and he'll let you in without an issue, at least, as long as you don't beat around the bush too much beforehand." Aderyn explained, making reference to things like the muscled last-gangster they took out up here.

"I'll make sure to do that…" Zombina half-answered, half-mumbled to herself as she grazed over the info, closing the folder soon after. Giving herself a quick look-over afterwards, Zom decided the only way she'd be resolving _this _mess was with an actual shower, the bullet wounds in her midsection seeming like small-time problems compared to the blood-splattering on her head. Remembering an important question, despite how great they were now getting along, if _this _became an issue, it could break all of it: "Oh, also…..you don't mind if me and my friend take the bounty money on Hackett's head, do you?"

"My boss just wants him dead, really…if that bounty money is what it takes to get you to help, you two can take _all _of it, consider it my boss paying you without, well, actually _paying you _out of his pocket…..you get what I mean. Point is, we're not gonna have any fights over who gets what share of the money, just help me whack Hackett, and we're good. I'm serious though, if you want to stay, we'll _gladly _take you in." Aderyn offered, the proposal sounding admittedly tempting. Fairly impulse-driven, this was one impulse Zom would be able to resist, at least for the time being.

"Nah, sorry…gotta get back home, after all, and _especially _before doing so gets even harder." Zom figured, hating to turn down the offer. Visibly disappointed, Aderyn took the relevant files _she _needed to deal with Ivar Estevis before beginning to walk away.

"Suit yourself…..oh, and in regards to getting out of here, I say let's just go down the way we came up, and _fast_. No telling if there's more of these clowns on the floors below us." Aderyn suggested, providing a strong point. Grabbing the Jockby-related files, Zom followed the blonde out as they retraced their steps, quickly passing the messes they caused as they entered the stairwell, descended said stairwell, and exited the building. Knowing she'd need to move fast, Zom simply gave a basic waving goodbye as she and Aderyn moved in opposite directions down the sidewalk, Zom nearly sprinting as she hurried to find Manako. Spotting the Challenger exactly where Manako said it would be at, the Cyclops seemed bored to tears in the driver seat, patiently waiting as planned. Speedily hurrying over with the files held tight, Zom was surprised her borderline half-red-head didn't stick out like a sore thumb in the mirrors of the Challenger, actually sneaking up on Manako instead.

"Guess who….." Zombina spoke up in a teasing voice as she got to the passenger-side door, getting in the car before handing the documents Aderyn gave her over to Manako. Relieved and confused at the same time, especially because of the blood, Manako nonetheless took the folder without hesitation, flicking through it just as quickly as Zom did to see what made it important.

"What's this? And….._why _are you covered in blood?" Manako inquired, noticing the recurring trend of Farnell's name throughout nearly as fast as she noticed Zom's excessive 'facepaint'. Almost feeling like she knew the answer already, it was for that exact reason that Manako regretted asking when she got her answer.

"Files on the chain of command and recent meet-ups between members of this gang. I met a woman over by that shitty apartment complex, and we're teaming up: She's going after Ivar Estevis while we get Farnell Jockby. Between the two of us, we're bound to find out where Hackett is, and from there? Payday." Zombina explained, reclining the seat as she rested back. "Oh, right….as for the blood…..the apartment was full of gangsters, one of which Aderyn, the woman I met, shot point-blank in the head with a shotgun. His head was next to _my head,_ and….yeah, you can see how that ended."

"She's ok with us just taking the bounty money?" Manako questioned, not seeing how this added up and trying to avoid picturing the scene Zom detailed too much. Noticing mentions of a fish-packing plant, the date and time lined up for Farnell to be arriving at said place in the near future, and it didn't sound like it was too terribly far away, making it a prime candidate for them to nab him. Despite having a plan internally settled, Manako still flicked through some more, hoping to gain whatever advantage she could to refine said plan to a greater degree.

"She just wants the guy dead to appease her boss, so she's perfectly fine with us taking the money so long as he stops living. Kinda strange since she sounded like a gang-type herself, but if she's ok with it, I'm _certainly _not going to complain." Zombina elaborated, considering the whole event to be a successful day.

"And with how relaxed and happy you seem to be, I assume you had another…dual-wielding spree, like how almost every single firefight back home would be for you?" Manako noticed, finding Zom's incredibly chilled, satisfied demeanor to be somewhat concerning.

"_Oh _yeah, got a few machine pistols and got to go on a nice little tear….if I had more ammo and more thugs to shoot, you could probably call me fuckin' Zom Woo." Zom joked as she sank into her now-reclined seat, arms behind her head and eyes closed. Rolling her single eye at the joke, Manako was nonetheless largely starting to agree with the present circumstances, a small newspaper clipping attached to the top corner of one of the documents, however, catching her attention for the worse.

_Mysterious Axe-Murderer Giant Still at Large, Witness Reports State Man Has Been Seen Moving Without a Head_ The news article headline gravely stated, complete with a blurry picture of a roughly 10-foot man dressed in what looked to be a long, black trench coat with an array of buckles and straps on the front. The man's head being concealed by a hood, his features were enveloped in a black nothingness aside from two glowing lights where his eyes would be.

_It can't be….Monsters in the U.S.?_ Manako thought, this new revelation putting her distinctly on edge.

Author's Note:

So, while I _did _do some touch-ups on most of the story to correct some errors and things like that, I just _wasn't _satisfied with how this chapter came out, even with the re-tweaks, and I was in a hurry since I didn't want the completed newest chapter to be delayed too long (When, at the same time, I wanted the re-tweaks done too so it going at the top of the listings means more people would be likely to see the edits and have a better impression). Despite this, I finally decided to just take the time and heavily re-do nearly the _entire _chapter to a far greater degree than the other early ones, completely changing the order of events (For the better in my opinion) to make an overall better written, hopefully more enjoyable intro to Aderyn, who is _far _too central in the story to have such a low-quality introduction. Admittedly I got somewhat pushed to it after being dumb enough to take a glance at what other stories in the section were getting for reviews, which started a bit of self-concern with not knowing whether the _incredibly _sparse reception (Very good reception, no negative reviews so far, but still, _massively _sparse reception) was the fault of it being a slow section with not too many readers, me having an unpopular idea that just doesn't attract too many people, or if the story is actually directly written bad enough that most people just click out without saying anything.

So, to be pre-emptive, I just decided to re-do what I thought was probably _the _weakest link in this story so far, hopefully it hooks a few more people by being a bit more indicative of what my writing is up to at this present time rather than the sparse, crappy, awkward nonsense that was pre-rework Chapter 1. Even now it's far from perfect, but it's not _so bad _that I feel I need to redo Chapter 1, I only got that feeling with this one right here.


	4. Hope and Headsmen

Chapter 4: Hope and Headsmen

_Fish Packing Pier In Galveston, Texas, 8:35 PM_

"A….._fish packing plant?_" Zom asked with morbid confusion, her and Zom stepping out of their Challenger a short ways away from the Plant. The entire area possessing a largely concrete ground, this was compensated by the massive amount of wooden piers, guard-rails, and paths to accent the theme, even having some near-entirely wood-exterior restaurants nearby to keep the seaside/fish theme going. Still drab, depressing, and grey/brown by nature, the drab colors were only vaguely, yet depressingly combated by faded, equally dull blues, whites, and other usually-bright colors from the restaurants that had faded from time and disrepair. Feeling like an overall bleak part of town with not much money or attention diverted to it, the hopeless decor wasn't helping either already-hopeless Monster.

"That's what those documents you and that Aderyn woman found pointed to. Supposedly Jockby's coming here to 'do the rounds' so to speak, so when he does, we get him." Manako explained, making sure the safety on her Beretta was set to on before hiding it in her jacket.

"So…..he's a fish connoisseur?" Zom joked, knowing that wasn't _really_ it. Being short on hope, as well as short on options, a bit of humor was the _least _Zom could do to brighten the times as they walked closer. Equally as blank and lacking in civilians as the area they got their car from, Zom didn't mind, as fewer civilians meant fewer people Zom had to keep her eyes on lest they break Manako's oh-so-fragile self-esteem.

"Not sure, the documents just referred to it as 'The Fish Job' and 'The Pier Op', so they're doing _something _with the fish that come through here, but I'm not sure what. Might not be a half-bad idea to tip the police off to it once we kill Jockby and clear out." Manako guessed, trying to casually speed walk past the sight lines of whatever few Pier Workers were still around at this hour.

"Any exotic seafood restaurants in the area?" Zom wondered, trying to theorize on the gang's motives as they continued to sneak further towards the actual plant itself. Not usually caring very much for such a thing, Zom took interest this once because, depending on what it was, there might be a varying level of usefulness in turning their contraband against them if things go sour.

"Uh….what would that have to do with anything?" Manako questioned, slightly confused. Assuming it was just Zom getting hungry again, she wasn't expecting Zom to have a _genuinely _good point to it.

"Well, some of the….riskier….dishes in some seafood restaurants back home would have the little catch that, if they didn't prepare it _just _right, poison within the fish it was made from would risk killing you. Maybe they're importing some of those fish under the guise of it being shipped to those kinds of restaurants so they can use the poison for assassination purposes." Zom theorized, having put a surprisingly large amount of thought into it. Impressed, Manako was glad to know Zom was good for more than just gunfights.

"That's…..actually a _good idea_. Might have to remember that so we don't need to make a big show out of killing Hackett." Manako noted, glad that if she had to be stuck here with _any_ one person she knew, it was Zom. Making it to the actual plant itself, Zom held her arm out to stop Manako, getting an idea.

"See that guy over there?" Zom directed, pointing to her potential quarry, who was standing further down the pier, near a sizable fish-plant building.

"The dock worker-looking guy in blue?" Manako asked for clarification, seeing a decently-sized man dressed in a blue Tyvek Coverall suit, under that being the hood of a white hoodie sweater poking up past the suit to conceal most of his head in tandem with a white viral mask strapped over his mouth and nose, as well as a pair of white latex gloves.

"Yeah. Lets see if we can get you a way up high…What I'm thinking is if I take his outfit and go in, I can pose as one of the workers while you keep an eye out from up top for Jockby. Judging by his picture, he shouldn't be hard to spot." Zom formulated, moving in to corner the worker. Not going for sly persuasions or allure this time, it was _all _brute-force this time around.

"Can I help y-" The worker started to ask, being cut off as Zom grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him forward, kneeing the man in the gut. Placing a hand on the back of his head, Zom spun the man around before driving his head into the wall repeatedly, thankful that the walls seemed thick enough that the thumping didn't cause much of a rattling echo. Slamming his head into the wall for the sixth time, the man was still conscious, but seemed to cave a bit. "Alright, alright, what do you want?!"

"Your coveralls, hoodie, mask, and whatever sort of key I'll need to get in." Zom listed off, letting go of the man and shoving him away. Shaky and nervous, the man quickly undid the coveralls, thankfully possessing a pair of jeans under that. Tossing the suit to Zom, the man quickly followed up with his hoodie sweater and viral mask. Somewhat wobbly, she could tell he suffered some damage, but thankfully not enough to where she'd be doing this herself.

"Here's my keycard, just swipe it in the door over there and you'll get in just fine. Dock security's pretty old school." The man, still nervous, explained, tossing a small credit-card-sized ID card to Zom before pointing to a dull iron-colored door about 20 feet further down the pier.

"Good, get out of here." Zom suggested with a slight head-jerk, putting down the hoodie, mask, and ID card to put the coveralls on over what she was wearing. Getting it halfway on, Zom then put on the hoodie, followed by pulling the coveralls the rest of the way up and zipping it closed. Putting the viral mask on, Zom then pulled the hoodie up, her disguise now set.

"So, where do you think I can hide that'll actually be advantageous?" Manako questioned, wondering if Zom actually had a well-formulated plan for once. Having hope after the poison idea, it seemed Zom was on a roll with the forethought tonight, surprising Manako for the second time now.

"Well, remember the floor-plan of the plant we pulled from those documents? Hide up on the catwalks. If things get a bit…_tense_…..you can keep an eye on Jockby since chances are they'll be focused on me, maybe even having no clue you're there. I would say just put a round through the top of his head, but we'll need him to find out if Hackett's attending any 'crashable parties' soon." Zom explained, mentally frowning at the fact that her coveralls had no pockets, leaving her sidearm impossible to draw without half-removing the coveralls.

Setting their plan into motion, the two Monsters entered the plant, Manako hiding along the edges where it was darker while Zom strolled out and tried to act casual. Finding a ladder, Manako took advantage of the fact that the few workers who were around had their eyes elsewhere as she climbed up to her vantage point. Not really knowing what was done at a Fish Packing Plant, Zom mostly just stood around and tried to look interested in something, thankfully not having to wait long.

_There you are….._ Zom thought with a smile as a 5'8" white man with a black, gelled-back haircut in a pinstripe suit walked in, matching Farnell Jockby's image from the documents. Standing on either side of him were two slightly taller men dressed in all-black, with loose hoodies and baggy black pants in-tandem with black bandanas veiled over their mouths, tinted sunglasses, and black leather gloves making their features completely unidentifiable. Standing out like a sore thumb, the guns they carried made it _abundantly _clear that subtlety was _far _from their intention.

"Where the hell did they get something like _that?_" Zom mumbled, noticing that the two bodyguards were carrying flat-topped M4s with CQBR Upper Receivers and P-Mag magazines. Trying to figure out how best to get Jockby before he can escape, the plotting was cut short as Jockby gave a 'come over here' gesture with his finger, having done it while looking right at her. Hesitantly walking over, Zom wasn't sure if this was the perfect opportunity or a _serious_ wrench in the plan.

"I don't remember hiring anybody with dark green hair…..are you new here?" Jockby asked, a subtle smugness being noticeable in his voice. Looking her up and down, it felt like he knew the answer, and was instead just being a sadistic power-player looking to drag things out.

"Oh, um…..actually, I'm part of the day-shift. Just thought I'd hang around a bit longer, extra set of hands sort of thing." Zom meekly bluffed, trying to avoid eye contact. Unfortunately, she seemed to forget that, day or night shift, if Jockby's the one hiring these workers, he'd have seen her before anyway.

"Have you been actively working for the past 35 minutes, or did you just arrive after deciding to come back and be a hard worker?" Jockby continued to question, drawing a 1911 with custom Elephant Ivory grips from his pocket.

"Oh, no, I've been working. Never left since my shift ended." Zom answered, her meek attitude turning to dread as Jockby raised his sidearm to point at her chest.

"Such a shame….you sounded like such a _great_ service to this company, but my business takes precedence. No better place to sleep with the fishes though, right?" Jockby falsely sympathized, shooting Zom directly in the heart. Waiting a few seconds, Jockby's expression turned to morbid confusion mixed with cocking his head to the side as Zom just….didn't fall over.

"Uhm….." Zom stalled, becoming alarmed as Jockby's guards raised their rifles, opting to instead turn and dive over one of the conveyor lines, taking cover behind it as the men opened fire. Reorienting into a sitting position with her back against the side of the conveyor line, Zom braced herself as the two guards emptied their magazines, ripping into fish passing along and sending some off the conveyor onto the floor beside her.

Seeing Manako hiding away in the catwalks, Zom made a series of hand gestures that meant '_Keep an eye on Jockby, I'll be fine_'. Accidentally kicking one of the Mahi-Mahi fish that was knocked off, Zom's foot was met with an odd amount of solid resistance for a gutted fish. Looking over, she saw the strangest black object through the holes in the fish's body, prompting further investigation. Reaching over and grabbing the fish, Zom pulled it closer before reaching into the slit line along the bottom and pulling out the mysterious object.

"It's a…..Lower Receiver?" Zom asked herself in confusion, realizing that it was, in fact, the Lower Receiver and Stock to an M4. Seeing two more Mahi-Mahi that were knocked off, Zom reached out and pulled those closer too, which contained a CQBR Upper Receiver in one and a set of 6 P-Mags in the other.

_That explains how they were getting the military hardware….._ Zom thought, never having guessed that weapons smuggling would be what they veiled under fish importation. Hoping that no serious damage had been done to the weapon, Zom took the Lower Receiver in her right hand and the Upper in her left, slotting the Upper Receiver into the front end of the Lower and pushing the Forward Pivot Pin closed. Pushing the Upper Receiver down into place on top of the Lower Receiver, Zom repeated the action with the Rear Takedown Pin, having a completed rifle to use. Grabbing one of the P-Mags, Zom loaded the weapon and had it ready to fire, catching Jockby's guards by surprise and taking one out in a burst of fire.

"How in the…..why isn't this bitch _dead?!_" Jockby loudly complained, obviously not used to things going against his will. Deciding the disguise was no longer necessary, Zom took the momentary pause as Jockby and his guard ran for cover to remove the coveralls, giving her a place to store the spare P-Mags when she changed position. Keeping the white hoodie on, Zom removed the viral mask and stashed the spare P-Mags in the pouch-like pocket located in the stomach-area of the hoodie, pushing to her feet and letting off a few rounds right after. Hearing more gunfire outside, something started to seem off.

_Did the police show up and Jockby's men got too trigger-happy or something? _Zom thought as she kept an eye out for Jockby's other guard, almost playing a game of cat-and-mouse with him. Glancing over to one of the far windows, things made even less sense as a man in typical gang clothes was seen _flying _into the wall outside the plant at high speed, almost like he was hurled by some sort of behemoth. Deciding to keep her priorities on Jockby, Zom set into a light speed-walk around the conveyor line, rounding the corner to the sight of Jockby's surviving bodyguard in a kneel, reloading his weapon. Putting two rounds through the bodyguard's head on pure instinct, Zom only had to take a few more steps before she found Jockby. Defiant to the end, Jockby raised his pistol again, firing the rest of his magazine right into Zom's chest, eliciting near-no reaction.

"So….at what point are you going to realize I'm technically dead already?" Zom asked with a smug undertone to her voice, all to hit Jockby with a sense of irony that he was the one receiving it now.

"What, are you here to kill me?! You want my money?! Well here, take it!" Jockby yelled from his seated position on the floor of the plant, drawing his wallet before throwing it at Zom's face as he scooted back a little bit.

"I'm not here for _your _money, I want to know where your boss Hackett is. Honestly, if you're going to throw something at me, your phone would be pretty useful." Zom explained, keeping her rifle raised at Jockby's chest for intimidation purposes.

"If I sell Hackett out, I'm dead anyway. You think I'm _that _stupid?" Jockby seethed, becoming quite flustered.

"Well, you were dumb enough to go walking into a dingy Fish Packing Plant in a pinstripe suit with an attitude that just _screams_ 'rich asshole' and two armed guards dressed in more black than the edgiest teen-angst convention I've ever _seen_, so I figured selling Hackett out was only a stone's throw away in terms of stupidity." Zom insulted, questioning Jockby's intelligence for his presentation, which was self-absorbed to say the least. Before Jockby could spit out a reply, a resounding crash echoed out from the rising metal garage door at the far end of the room, over in the direction Zom and Manako had come from. Looking at the door, Zom noticed the most peculiar detail as what looked to be an axe blade the size of a man's torso was protruding through said door. The axe blade being pulled out of the hole in the door, things only got _worse_ as the door was forced upwards, slamming into a fully-open position as a roughly 11-foot tall man in a midnight black leather trench coat covered in all manner of buckles and belts stood on the other side. Carrying a threateningly massive, full-length axe, one side was a crescent-shaped blade while the other side possessed an equally-sized hammer attachment. The axe-wielder's face not being visible, it was instead hidden by a loose, black hood and a dark void lit up by two glowing, orange dots. Squatting slightly to fit through the door, the massive man rose back to his full height and slowly began trudging towards them.

"Still think _I'm_ the one that'll kill you?" Zom asked, now aiming her rifle at the giant Dullahan.

"W-what in the world _is _that thing?!" Jockby stammered, rising to his feet and running to stand behind Zom now. Both backing up, Zom began to open fire, the rounds actually causing holes and squirts of blood despite doing quite obviously nothing to slow the behemoth down.

"It's a Dullahan, they're like Death's enforcers. When it's someone's time to die, they come for them, kill them, and drag their carcass back to god-knows-where. It's nothing personal to them, just their job. If this one's here, he's probably after you. See back to the part about me already being dead before you try to hope it's me." Zombina explained, making hand-gesture for Manako to try and follow them into the next section of the plant as she forced open the door behind her and Jockby. With the interior of the plant almost seeming skeletal by comparison, with a much more industrial design full of bare metal framework rather than solid walls, hiding from the Dullahan was going to be next to impossible. Pulling the sleazy business-gangster through, the man had a small moment of realization.

"Wait a minute…..I think I know that guy! Calls himself Karl, he's been terrorizing our guys all up and down this side of Texas!" Jockby realized, leaving Zom a bit dumbfounded.

"…..a giant hooded guy in a black trench coat's slaughtering your men all up and down this side of Texas, and his _height _gets you blubbering?!" Zom yelled, unable to resist questioning this man's logic.

"Well I didn't know the guy was _8 frickin' feet tall! _All I heard was stories and vague rumors about some dude with an axe, they never specifically mentioned the guy's so big he could take out a _bank drive-through_ with his head!" Jockby ranted back, both irate criminals being interrupted as they noticed Karl getting closer.

"For the record, your estimate's off by about 3 feet." Zom pointed out, pushing Jockby on the shoulder to get him to keep going back. "Now, if you'll just tell me where I can find Hackett, I won't throw you to the big scary Dullahan. Sound fair?"

"Alright, fine! I think my phone's in the back somewhere, we get to it and I'm sure I'll have a text or two from Hackett that'll be useful." Jockby caved, leading Zom further back into the plant.

"Hey, Manako! Get down here, we're getting somewhere!" Zom yelled, opening fire on Karl some more to distract him as Manako found a way down. Getting off at a ladder near the back of the room, Manako scrambled over a conveyor line onto Zom's side of the room before heading after Jockby, Zom doing so as well. Heading into a back manager's office on the first floor that Karl couldn't fit into, there was a single, _very _big complication.

"Ok….good news: I found my phone, and Hackett wanted me to text him once I stopped by here, he was going to give me details about a meet-up in a few days. Bad news: I don't get a signal back here." Jockby explained with a slight tone of dread in his voice.

"So…..you're saying we need to be out there with the Dullahan for you to text Hackett?" Manako asked, shrinking back slightly as Jockby stifled a surprised yelp upon making eye contact with her.

"Uh…..yeah. If you guys can just distract Karl, I'll get the texts out." Jockby offered, a sheepish grin on his face.

"I don't trust him. Manako, keep your pistol out and send the texts yourself, make sure nothing else tries to sneak up on Jockby. Jockby, just stay by my friend here and I'll deal with Karl." Zom explained, reaching into her hoodie for another P-Mag. Noticing it felt oddly light, Zom checked the top of it to find it was _empty_. Dropping it on the floor, Zom checked her remaining two P-Mags to find they too were already empty.

_So they loaded some of the mags and not others? What the hell?! _Zom mentally groaned, dropping the now-useless M4.

Reluctantly handing his phone over, Jockby and Manako waited for Zom to make her move, bracing herself before sprinting out the door and past the giant Dullahan's leg. Startled by the action, Karl swung his axe in attempted retaliation, only getting it lodged in the wall instead. Wrenching his axe out, the Dullahan decided to pursue temporarily, Jockby and Manako coming out too when it was clear at the doorway. Climbing over some of the conveyor lines, the two decided to try and hide a bit despite the futility of it.

_Fish job's checked on, you wanted to tell me something? _Manako texted, posing as Jockby to Hackett. Just in case that didn't work, Manako got an idea. While Ms. Smith's phone was….._inoperable_….after an Ogre in the Exchange Program accidentally sat on it, she knew someone else whom she could hopefully reach. Dialing the number, Manako wished for the best.

_Kimihito residence, Japan…_

Perplexed by the long-distance phone call he was receiving, Kurusu picked up the house phone, wondering who it could be.

"Uhm…hello?" Kurusu asked, hoping this wasn't a prank.

"Darling! It's me, Manako. Can you get a hold of Ms. Smith?" Manako frantically questioned, the sound of metal banging and clanging in the background as Karl continued to swing his axe at Zom, narrowly missing each swing as he instead wiped out machinery of all kinds.

"Ah…probably not at this exact moment, why? And what's all that noise in the background?" Kurusu questioned, finding more questions than answers here.

"It's a long story, but me and Zombina are trapped in America, and Zombina's currently trying to hold off an Axe-wielding Dullahan…..who just threw a large fish at her. Point is, we need Ms. Smith to come back to the states and get us, please!" Manako pleaded, a faint '_Ya_ _missed_!' being heard in the background, followed by a loud, wet smacking noise before the same voice yelled '_Fuck_!', confusing Kurusu even more.

Uhm….ok, I'll let her know….did you just say a Dullahan threw a fish at Zombina?" Kurusu asked, truly befuddled.

"That's not important, what is important is Ms. Smith needs to-" Manako's voice cut out, the call hanging up abruptly. Putting the phone back on the wall, Kurusu sat and pondered what he had just heard for a moment, not knowing where to begin.

_Back in Galveston, Texas…_

"What?! Out of minutes?!" Manako exasperatedly yelled, feeling like today was full of ups and downs.

"Did you get a reply yet?! This asshat won't stop throwing fish at me!" Zom called out, Karl having gotten sick of missing his axe swings, instead resorting to snatching Mahi-Mahi off the conveyor line and hurling them at her. Hearing a small ding come from the phone, Maneko's heart almost skipped a beat at what she saw.

_Yeah, Dancing Tail nightclub in Downtown Dallas, week from now. See you there. _A text from Hackett came in, making Manako's day.

"I got it! I know where Hackett'll be!" Manako yelled to get Zom's attention, Zom dodging past Karl again to make it over to them. Vaulting over the conveyor line, Zom did the last thing Jockby was hoping for.

"Wait, the hell are you-?!" Jockby started to yell, being grabbed by the collar of his suit jacket and hoisted up onto the conveyor line towards Karl.

"You _really_ thought I was going to keep a promise to someone who tried to kill me? You're both foolish _and _naive." Zombina sadistically smiled, shoving Jockby head-over-heels over the conveyor and towards Karl, to which he met his end as Karl brought his axe down executioner style. Eerily seeing nothing but a splatter of blood as Jockby ceased to make any noise, both Monsters opted to silently back away as Karl retrieved his prize and left, paying them no mind anymore.

"I've seen plenty of Dullahan executions before, and no amount of them'll ever make that calmness with which they do it any less eerie." Maneko commented, both women scrambling to their feet and wanting nothing but to be out of here. Not having any contrary comments, and quite preferring to be as _far _away from here as possible, Zom kept quiet as the two hurried for the exit, making sure to take a different route out than the lumbering Dullahan.

_3 hours later, undisclosed gang location…_

"You hear on the news? Jockby got taken out. Same axe-wielding Monster that's been taking out our other guys." A flange-filled, echoey voice informed, taking a seat up on a table full of various firearms and bone-knives.

"That and Ivar got taken out by that Aderyn bitch….we need to be ready. I doubt anyone got to look at Jockby's phone before he died, but just in case, I'm going to need you at that meeting to take out any would-be assassins. Think yo can you do that?" Hackett asked, looking over at his boney, goat-skull-headed Monster ally.

"Oh, it would be my pleasure." The Baphomet warrior smiled, his boney, segmented tail swaying left and right on the table in slight joy.

Post-Chapter Note

Not much to say, except for a few clarifications:

First, I'm only explaining this since I _strongly _doubt very many people would catch this painfully obscure reference, but the Dullahan's name is a reference to Kuarl from House of the Dead 2. If you notice, both wield axes, both (Can be) headless, and Karl is just Kuarl - the u.

Second, the "Baphomet warrior" at the very end is technically another Monster, not a demon or anything like that. Yes, it's obviously meant to be reminiscent of the demonically-associated beings, but it only goes so far as partial visible similarities and a name. This character isn't some demonic advocate from Hell or something. I recall seeing once some kind of Baphomet-Monster art (IE Musume's style of Monster, not a general description of the term monster as usually used), and while I took some liberties in stretching the design to be somewhat deadlier, it's for that same reason that I made it a male rather than a female Baphomet, as if male Centaurs are any indication, the males of these races do _not _need to be pleasing to the eye in the slightest.

Third, some specific places wherein combat or other criminal activities occurs will be fictitious or otherwise have modified names. Reason being one of my fellow writer friends told me about how, when his Aunt was over for his birthday, she heard him talking to a friend about putting in a shootout scene at a Walmart in a story he was writing, to which the Aunt approached him later thinking he actually wanted _to shoot up _a Walmart…So, as a precautionary measure, I'm doing this so no overly-paranoid one-off viewers think I'm insinuating future events and they do something extreme like waste tax dollars calling the police on me over a strictly-fictitious scene.


	5. Party Crashers

Chapter 5: Party Crashers

_At Club Venue, Downtown Houston, 1 week later…_

"This is the place, let's hope Aderyn wasn't bluffing." Zom spoke mostly to herself, leading Manako close behind as they got to the front of the line. On the outside, the club seemed somewhat flashier and nicer than the decrepit side-shows they'd been going to lately, with actually-functioning lights and a coat of paint that seemed like it'd been applied within the past decade, which was _far _more than what could be said for the fish-packing plant. With a predominantly black color scheme, accented by pink highlights, the neon signs and edged-lighting didn't reek of tackiness, but simultaneously seemed odd for a gang hideout.

"Who are you?" The club's Doorman questioned, a slightly disdainful look on his face. Obviously IDing her as a Zombie _very _quickly, the sour approach to things put a small bit of concern on the table that Zom had already failed at not annoying the bouncer like Aderyn warned.

"We're friends of Aderyn Derrow, helped her with a small job a few days back. She told us to come here after we did our part and tell you she liked us, which, it _really _sounds like you don't….can we come in anyway?" Zom explained, wrapping her right arm around Manako's shoulders to show they were together instead of being here for separate reasons. Hoping and praying for the best, Manako actually looked at a human directly with confidence for once, mostly due to the Monster-thing being out of the bag at this point.

"Alright, head inside. Aderyn shouldn't be hard to find." The Doorman stepped aside, letting the two pass. The duo walking inside, the interior was expansive and _highly_ populated. The dance-floor, bar, and sit-down tables alike all being jam-packed and hard to ID people thanks to the dark, dancefloor-light-dominated lighting, Aderyn thankfully found _them_ instead.

"_Hey, you made it! _I heard about what happened to Farnell, _what a shame…._" Aderyn congratulated, saying the last part with a heavy tone of sarcasm to indicate she wasn't mournful in the slightest. Seemingly in a _highly _upbeat mood, it could only be assumed her end of things went just as smoothly.

"Yeah….what do you think they'll write on his tombstone? 'Slept with the fishes. Literally'?" Zom asked, following as Aderyn led them through an Employee Only door off to the right. Stepping through, they found themselves in a far less glamorous, slightly dingy, faded brown brick hallway with basic lighting and various equipment laying in cardboard boxes along the walls. Somewhat confused by it, Zom instinctively turned to focusing more on why they were here. "You killed Ivar, right?"

"Yep, poor bastard didn't even have many guards. Spotted his car in a parking lot, waited in the back seat, got a knife up to his throat and demanded what I wanted to know. When he told me, I gave his throat a little extra air and threw his body in the trunk." Aderyn explained, undoing the zipper on her hoodie. Pulling it off, it became _quite_ obvious she was a Zombie, as her back was covered _quite_ heavily in the same kind of stitch marks Zom had, the most noticeable one being a large X-shaped cross of two stitch lines right in the middle of her back.

"Do you always dress so….._loosely_….back here?" Manako wondered, noting that under the hoodie, Aderyn only had a black bikini top on. Whether it was a brazen move in light of her inability to die or some other reason entirely, she couldn't figure.

"Not just back here, I only have the hoodie on when I don't go into a situation wanting a fight or if I'm out on social matters. Plus, the AC in these back rooms is busted half the time, so it helps in dealing with the heat." Aderyn clarified, tying the hoodie's sleeves around her waist, the majority of it hanging off the back.

"I like it….probably wouldn't do it myself, but it still looks good." Zom half-complimented, noting that Aderyn's back was relatively tattoo free aside from a black goat skull tattoo on the back of her neck, only catching it for a brief second when Aderyn was messing with her hair. In addition, Aderyn's pants hung relatively low, mostly being held on by the dark brown belt tightly fastened through her belt loop, hanging so low that they nearly touched the floor on either side of her heavy boots. Pushing through another set of double-doors, the gang-setup became _massively _visible back here compared to the 'public' are of the Venue.

"Thanks…now, before we get down to business, I want you to meet most of the other special members of our crew. We're way too big for me to have you meet _everyone_, so we're keeping it to just the ones you'll probably be working with." Aderyn thanked, leading them into a homey, slightly better-kept back area. At the far right, near a long, silver garage door was a trio of vehicles placed over currently-inactive pneumatic lift systems. The far left side having what looked to be a mini-kitchen, a worn, dark brown couch, and a large table with a few chairs, the entire thing looked like the gang properly _lived _back here. In addition, right next to a surprisingly high-quality TV on a depressingly low-quality wooden stand was a decently sized gun rack. Heading over to the vehicles, Aderyn banged on the side of one, a black 4-door pickup truck, which had someone under it. Eliciting a reaction, a head veiled by a black balaclava, a black backwards military cap, and a pair of goggles stuck out from underneath.

"What is it, Aderyn? And who are these two?" The woman asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"These are Manako and Zombina, those two Monsters I said helped me get that chain of command list. Zom and Manako, this is Evalyn, our chief mechanic. She makes sure all our vehicles stay in working order, and _even_ does aftermarket mods. Doesn't matter if they're illegal or not. Just…let her buy the parts. Last thing we need is the police on our asses because someone bought an aftermarket mod from an easily-traced source." Aderyn explained, Zom almost sure she saw a dark brown, serpentine tail-tip twitch left and right before retreating underneath the vehicle. Carrying on with the tour, Aderyn led them over to the couch, where the other two notable members were residing.

"And here are the other two people I wanted you to meet until my boss shows up: The Ogre's name is Katalie, our heavy muscle. She can break a full-grown man's skull under her boot, throw you through a brick wall like it was paper, and won't feel guilt about doing it. And the tall guy in the suit's named Melik. Not sure why he chose such a strange name, but regardless, he's useful." Aderyn ran down the list, gesturing to a brown-skinned, blood-red-horned Ogre with short, white hair that was vaguely curly, reached just past shoulder length on all sides, and right up the middle, was pulled back along the length of her head and tied together in a style reminiscent of Nordic on-hair ponytails, only more frayed out and loose.

Dressed in a black tank top and thick, brown, heavy-duty pants with equally intimidating black boots on her feet. Standing next to her was a tall, nearly 6'1" man in a buttoned-up two-piece suit and black fedora with a blank, bald, featureless face. "Not sure if you get many of these in Japan, but Melik's a Noppera-Bõ."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm the group's inside-man with the PD. I pose as a Private Detective by the name of Jack Rawson, a name I'd rather you refrain from asking about. If you ever see my name come up in regards to you and the crew, just know I'm leading the police down a false trail and away from us." Melik greeted, taking his hat off and taking a small bow. Seeming _incredibly _gentleman-like, Manako was taking a swift liking to him already.

"How do you…..pose as other people?" Zom questioned with slight confusion, having heard of such a creature, but never seen one.

"Simple: Like this." Melik answered, his blank face contorting and shifting into a randomly-generated white-man's face. His skin darkening from its snowy white complexion, his face also melded to now possess a defined, 'complete' nose, fully-detailed eyes with irises, an openable mouth, hair, and even ears.

"Is it just your face, or can you do more?" Zom inquired, actually interested in the deceiver's capabilities. Deciding to let his actions speak for him, Melik's skin took on a slightly more greenish complexion, one eye going blue while the other turned green. Shrinking down to Zom's height, Melik's figure changed drastically in addition to a line of stitches popping up across his nose, as well as his teeth becoming considerably sharper. Finally, his hair changed shape again, even tinting itself a dark green color.

"I can take the shape of any being with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. Tails, wings, and other odd extremities except horns such as an Ogre's are out of my range though. I can even mimic other people right down to their voice, however I usually prefer to take on male personas. While I can imitate the female physique, it's….awkward, to put it lightly." Melik explained, having perfectly copied Zom's appearance and even delivered his explanation in her voice, before shifting back to his faceless default form.

"That's…..unsettling. How do you keep other people off the crew's tail?" Zom continued to question, hoping she wasn't holding anything up.

"I tamper with any evidence pertaining to us. Not as my Jack Rawson persona of course, I either imitate a generic officer or frame a colleague of my choosing and get them out of the picture. Clean and safe. Since I can imitate one's fingerprints once their hands touch my skin, I can set them up with seemingly irrefutable evidence that they did it. The PD is a tad bit curious of why evidence pertaining to us repeatedly gets ruined by seemingly unrelated people, but I'm thorough enough to ensure they never figure it out. Their lack of knowledge on Noppera-Bõ certainly doesn't help them out." Melik explained with an unseen smile, enjoying just how much he could make the Texas PD spin their heads in circles trying to figure it out.

'Alright, explanations over. Big reason you're here right now is so we can get Hackett, remember?" Aderyn reminded, butting in.

"Right, Hackett's going to be at a meeting in some place called the Dancing Tail nightclub in Downtown Dallas sometime today. Know where that is?" Zom asked, holding out Jockby's phone that they'd stolen as proof.

"Yeah, I've passed by it a few times. Grab a gun off the rack, we're just going to go in and shoot his sorry ass." Aderyn instructed, grabbing a sawed-off Mossberg 590 from the rack in question. Following Aderyn's lead, Zom grabbed an AKMS with the stock folded, as well as few spare magazines. Almost ready to depart, they were both stopped when Melik stepped in front of them.

"No, you're not. We've got floor plans of all the clubs in Texas, remember? We knew they have a presence there, it's just…they've also got a presence in at least 20 other buildings in Texas, and that's just the ones we know about. Now that we know the where, we can plot out the _how_." Melik reminded them, guiding both Zombies over to the large table. Flipping through a stack of rolled-up papers, Melik eventually pulled one out, rolling it out flat on the table. "Instead of alerting him to our presence long before we find him, let's find him, _then _shoot the place up. Assuming his normal guard detail will be with him, a quiet elimination will be completely impossible, but doing it this way will reduce the chances of him escaping."

"So….what's your plan?" Zom asked, looking at the floor plans for the club that Melik had laid out. With a total lack of knowledge on where he'd be in the building, Zom had no capacity to form her own plan due to her lack of experience with Hackett, instead being forced to defer to the more knowledgable here.

"Well, there's a ladder in the back that leads up to the roof. From there, someone can look around for where Hackett's located by peering in through the windows. He's not the brightest man around, so the chances of him having a body-double are somewhere between slim and nil. While we could just have said watcher snipe him right there, I can guess right now that Aderyn would want a more personal touch given what Hackett's done to us." Melik figured, pointing to how the roof possessed a series of openable windows that looked down directly onto the main floor. "If he's not there, he'll probably be in the back. Ideally it won't come to that, since he'll have _far_ more guards back there."

"I can keep watch on the roof, I just ned to get back there." Manako offered, moving over to the gun rack and taking a Browning BAR Safari Hunting Rifle. Taking some spare rounds, Manako also made sure to remove the scope, which would do nothing but get in her way.

"Won't you, uh…._need that_?" Aderyn pointed out, finding it strange that Manako took the scope off.

"I was once able to snipe the guns out of a group of criminals' hands from 2 miles out with just the iron sights. I'll be fine." Manako explained, adjusting the sling attached to the rifle before throwing it over her shoulder.

"Works for me….Melik, you mind tagging along? Katalie'd be _way_ too easy to spot." Aderyn asked, taking Melik's plan of applying at least _some _subtlety into consideration.

"Sure, I'll go with Manako in one car while you and Zombina go in another, that way we can take the back while you take the front." Melik offered, making sure he had his sidearm on him. Shrinking down to 5'9" tall, Melik changed his complexion to that of a tan-skinned, green-eyed man with brown dreadlocks, which were tied back in a ponytail. Heading back towards where Evalyn was, Aderyn hit a button to raise the metal garage door leading outside, revealing a small, flimsily gated-in area with a single car present. Manako and Melik getting into one of the three vehicles parked inside, a silver Saleen 620 Camaro, Zom and Aderyn went for the blue 2013 Mustang GT Cobra outside.

"This yours?" Zom asked, figuring that the white racing stripes running up the hood of the vehicle were right in line with Aderyn's personality. Exceptionally well-kept and cared-for with its interior, the car seemed fitting for someone evidently high-up enough in the gang to be going on specific manhunt-errands straight from the boss.

"Yep, my personal vehicle. Not lent, not a group vehicle, _all_ mine." Aderyn answered with a smile, revving the engine before departing from the back of the club with Melik and Manako not far behind. With no gang elements knowing they were coming, Zom sought to enjoy the calm before the storm, striking up a casual conversation as best she could.

"Sounds pretty nice…..now, tell me: Who are these guys? I haven't even gotten a _name_ of this gang yet." Zom inquired, not liking how far in the dark she was. Trying to not come off too strong, things still went onto rocky terrain regardless.

"Why not you tell me the details of how you're a _cop_ first? Jurisdiction in this country or not, a cop's a cop." Aderyn pointed out, getting lightly hostile. Seemingly totally unprovoked, the spontaneous nature of the accusation, coupled with the topic not coming up since the last time they met roughly a week ago spelt out that Aderyn was a _keen _observer of details, as well as not being _too _gung-ho with chasing that which strikes her curiosity. Confirming she wasn't dealing with just some naive gang-brat, Zom decided to take this carefully.

"I'm sure you know about the Extraspecies Act back home, right? One of the rules in it is that humans can't legally harm any of the Monster races, and vice-versa: If a Monster hurts a human, it's a massive offense that usually gets them deported. To counteract the loophole where a group of Monsters technically can't be hurt by the typical police without having their rights violated, the unit I was in was formed explicitly to deal with those special situations. I don't handle the typical police matters, just the niche ones where non-humans are involved. I literally couldn't give less of a damn what laws you break, I was only in special forces back home because it was a profession where I could legally shoot people." Zom admitted, not having much of any care for the law in a moral sense.

"Alright, maybe you're not so bad after all…What were you before that?" Aderyn questioned, easing up a bit. Still playing it close, Aderyn nonetheless couldn't help but let her relaxed demeanor slip into her facial expressions.

"Oh, y'know…mercenary work. Just hide my stitches a bit and I got to go fight in wars for fun." Zom answered with a meek smile, hoping her bluff wasn't too obvious. "Now, I've got a question for you: Why are most of the Monsters in this gang of yours women? Between you, Katalie, and Evalyn, Melik's the only male Monster in this so far."

"We used to have two other guys, but they're both gone. One of them, a Baphomet named Alastor, turned on us to go join Hackett. He killed the other guy on his way out when we went to confront him about it, _huge _bloody rampage. Poor bastard was a Cyclops, one poke in the eye and he was a _goner_." Aderyn slightly lamented, remembering when Alastor had gone on his miniature reign of terror to fight his way out. Not only did he kill the Cyclops, he _also_ tore through about twenty human members of the gang like they weren't even there.

"That's…..unfortunate. If I was intent on staying I'd offer to join your gang, but I'll probably be needed back home when this is all over." Zom tried to reassure, actually feeling bad for Aderyn now.

"Yeah, let's just worry about crossing out Hackett so you can get your money and get back to Japan. And, to answer your earlier question, the gang's called the Snakes of the East. They're from somewhere out in Jamaica, and they've got a base of operations in Miami, Florida. Hackett's one of a series of chief leaders here in Texas, a sort of flat-topped rule that divides up the parts of Texas among each other. He mostly rules over the Dallas area, but he has his two lackeys, Ivar and Jockby, go out and do some errands for him in other places nearby. Or, he _did, _until we killed them. Hackett's not the chief of this gang's _entire_ Texas branch, just the chief of their Dallas-based activities. Cutting off this head doesn't even come close to cutting off the head of the whole snake, it's just that he's the most outwardly violent of the different county-leaders. Couple that with Alastor joining him, and he's been spurred to attack us even _more_. Through that, the police want his head on a silver platter so he'll stop publicly disturbing the peace, because whenever he tries to screw with us, he usually kills a decent-sized crowd or two in the process." Aderyn elaborated, laying out the whole picture.

"So, in short, we're dealing with a man who has the mindset of an unbound warlord. _Lovely. _" Zom mumbled, everything going quiet for the rest of the drive.

_Meanwhile, with Manako and Melik, four hours later…._

"Alright, we're finally here….allow _me_ to deal with the guard." Melik directed, still disguised in his dreadlock-wearing Jack Rawson personality. If all went well, he could call in his police buddies, let Aderyn vacate and claim Zom and Manako aided him in taking Hackett down. Drawing his H&amp;K P2000 with a custom silver slide from his belt holster, Melik made sure the safety was on before placing it in his suit-jacket pocket, unclipping the holster and putting that in the other pocket in order to completely appear unarmed. The area behind the club consisting of a small gated-in area surrounded by a concrete wall, Melik wandered in due to the gate being open, getting stopped by a guard on the way. The man looked like a borderline PMC guard, wearing a black beanie with sunglasses resting on his forehead, a grey and black scarf coiled around his neck, with a thick brown jacket, grey gloves, and baggy pants. Currently he was carrying an MP5, most likely either stolen from dead police or smuggled in, but Melik could also see some kind of pistol jutting out of his pants pocket.

"Sorry buddy, the way into the club's around front." The guard tried to ward off, free hand outstretched in a gesture signaling for Melik to stop. Not responding, Melik grabbed the guard's outstretched arm by the wrist with his right hand, pulling the man in close as he pivoted on his heel to the right. Raising his left elbow up, Melik pulled the man right into an elbow-strike to the cheek, disorienting and leaving him open to a knee in the stomach. Grabbing the man's firing arm, Melik twisted it behind the guard's back, causing him to drop the MP5 before swiftly having his life ended with a backwards neck-snap, putting the back of the guard's head against his own back.

"Looks like that's the only guard, go get set up on the roof. I'm going to dispose of the body, then I'll join you up there." Melik directed as Manako caught up, only to hurry off to find the ladder in question. To make it a bit easier, Manako took her shoes off and threw them off to the side, having still been wearing the dark grey suit jacket, long skirt, stockings, and heels from the meeting that landed them in this country in the first place. Dragging the man's body off to the side, Melik tossed it into a nearby dumpster, not before looting him of all his ammo and claiming his MP5. Running to the ladder he pointed out in the floor plan, Melik scaled it and found Manako, one of the windows popped open as she scanned for the target. "Remember what he looks like?"

Giving a silent reply, Manako did so by holding up the mugshot of Hackett she clipped out of the newspaper ad, going back to searching right after. Eye squinted in intense concentration, Manako had surprisingly little trouble finding her target among the masses of the club. Patting Melik on the side of the arm to get his attention, Manako pointed to where she saw Hackett, Melik pulling out his phone to relay the news.

"Aderyn, you there? We found Hackett. Middle of the club at a round table in a grey business suit. He's got three other guys with him, one in a pinstripe while the other two are wearing black suits. The pinstripe guy's smoking a cigar, should be easy to see." Melik informed, verifying Manako's claim that it was Hackett.

_Back with Zom and Aderyn…_

"Got it, thanks Mel." Aderyn thanked, quickly hanging up before picking up her Mossberg. "Ready? Just kill or incapacitate the guards, we'll be causing a ruckus anyway, so it doesn't really matter where we start. The walls blocking the middle of the club from the front and back are soundproof, so if we shoot a few guards at the entrance, he won't hear it coming."

Making sure her AKMS was loaded and ready to fire, Zom swung open her door, stepping out just as Aderyn did. Walking up to the front of the club, Zom just noticed that Aderyn had an _unsettlingly_ large amount of knives, specifically two sheaths full of small throwing knives on the outer-sides of her pant legs. Drawing one of said throwing knives, Aderyn tossed it right at the bouncer's throat, causing a small panic. Thankfully, Zom and Aderyn were able to corner the entire line before any of them could scatter.

"Alright people, I'm sure _plenty_ of you are familiar with a Mr. Hackett. Crime boss, _real_ asshole, mass murderer, all those sorts of things. Me and this woman right here are going to go in there and kill 'im. We know he's here, and he doesn't know _we're_ here, so if any of you call the cops on us for killing that bouncer or for any commotion you hear inside, you risk Hackett getting away. _Would any of you want that?_" Aderyn questioned, speaking to the crowd. Getting a jumbled-together series of murmured 'no' answers, Aderyn was glad she was getting somewhere. "If anybody comes out these doors, be sure to tell them the same. We're not here to rob the club, just kill Hackett and leave."

"I never would've expected you to have a thing for public persuasion." Zom pointed out as they stepped past the crowd, heading inside. True to Aderyn's word, before reaching the real meat of the club, there was a small waiting area with a series of tables, booths, ATM machines, and a few gambling tables. Thankfully, _this _area was empty save for a few guards.

"I _don't_, I was just winging that. I wasn't about to shoot a whole crowd of civilians, so I was frantically hoping they'd just listen…Luckily, they _did_." Aderyn admitted, firing her Mossberg at a guard trying to draw his sidearm. Comedically enough, the blast sent him head over heels, clean over the table he was standing in front of. Having not been paying attention, a second guard who was alerted by the blast tried to do the same, only to gently slide down the wall he was resting against after Zom perforated him with a short burst of gunfire. "Alright, keep your gun low and don't shoot anyone until we see Hackett. The place only has guards in the front and back, so as long as everybody's too drunk or busy dancing like a drunk ape wired up to a car battery, we should find him without anyone screaming about our guns."

"Dancing like a _what?!_" Zom whispered in major confusion as they pushed through the doors into the center of the club, letting her AKMS hang low by her side as she casually walked in. Walking up to an overhanging balcony overlooking the rest of the large room, Zom waited as Aderyn looked around.

"He said Hackett's right around in the middle…wait, I think I see him. Come on, lets go." Aderyn tugged on Zom's arm, heading down the stairs. She wasn't 100% sure, but it was close enough to warrant getting a better look. Gently shouldering through the crowd, Aderyn and Zom checked every table they saw, intently checking for one that matched Melik's description. Aderyn spotting the table, she wasted no time in raising her shotgun to point at Hackett. Firing, Hackett went tumbling backwards out of his chair, the deep red stains on the front of his shirt being the best thing Aderyn's seen _all month_. Unfortunately, it wasn't _all _perfect as a large chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling came down, nearly crushing both Zombies. Backing away from it, the chandelier had landed in-between her and Zom, with what was waiting on top of it being the _last_ thing she wanted to see.

"_**Surprise!**__"_ A flange-filled, almost demonic voice yelled, said voice belonging to the 6'5" tall Baphomet Alastor. His head being that of a goat's skull, it possessed thick, curved horns, as well as two glowing red lights in the middle of an otherwise black void where the skull's eye sockets were. His neck being more reminiscent of a human, albeit with ribbed, bone-like armor plating covering it, his shoulders were adorned with two more goat skulls like shoulder pads. His chest being segmented and boney white, almost like it was ribbed the whole way down, this ribbed visual style carried on to his double-jointed legs, each possessing three clawed toes. His arms being equally plated in chitin-like boney armor, all five digits on each hand having the same armored, ribbed plating as the rest of his body. His clothes consisting of what seemed to be a sized-up, sleeveless dark blue suit jacket with coattails, as well as a pair of matching suit pants, said pants were unceremoniously torn completely short, ending at the bottom of his thighs. Affixed to both of his forearms were a pair of two-bladed wrist-blades fashioned from sharpened bone, and strapped to his chest was a bandolier of five bone-knives, probably all made by Alastor himself. In terms of what was most off-putting about Alastor, Zom was caught between his long, segmented bone-tail ending in an arrowhead point, and his human-like lower jaw.

"Dammit…..looking to screw me over _again_ after you killed Kilián and turned on us?" Aderyn groaned, only not shooting because she knew full-well that his naturally chitinous, armored body was bullet-resistant. Not bullet-_proof_, but still resistant. If anything, he'd die from the force of the rounds impacting causing his organs to rupture before he'd die from an actual round puncturing his skin. Currently in a standoff with Aderyn to his right and Zom to his left, Alastor turned to focus on Aderyn until Zom dumped the rest of her magazine into his back. Pivoting on his heel, Alastor turned and darted at Zom with frightening agility, leaping off the ground before delivering a straight kick with his right leg. Being knocked off her feet, Zom went careening onto a table, crushing it flat. Thankfully, Aderyn's shotgun blast alone had caused most of the clubgoers to rise and flee, so the table was unoccupied.

"This is the best backup she could bring? Where are your strings, meat-puppet?" Alastor mocked as he grabbed Zom by the neck, insulting the means of her creation by likening it to a string-puppet. Hearing Aderyn rack her Mossberg's slide behind him, Alastor dropped his target before leaping back towards Aderyn with a downward backhand, his forearm smacking Aderyn's shotgun out of her hands as he landed. Ducking as he tried a backhand-swing with his wrist blades, Aderyn backed up and dodged to the left to avoid a followup strike in the form of Alastor leaping at her, his wrist blades going right through the table he hit instead. Moving in faster than Aderyn could get away, Alastor was unceremoniously tripped as Zom, who had collected Aderyn's shotgun, fired at his ankle, causing him to go face-first into another table. Quickly getting up, Alastor was still knocked around as Zom fired the remaining 5 shells loaded into the Mossberg, one after another. Hearing that unpleasant click as the shotgun ran dry, things got worse as Alastor ran Zom through the stomach with his wrist blades.

"You think something like that's going to kill me?" Zom taunted, her common sense going further and further away in favor of bloodlust as a line of blood dripped from her lip, Alastor hoisting her off her feet with little problem.

"I know it won't kill you, _that's the point._" Alastor counter-taunted, drawing one of his bone-knives in his other hand. Preparing to sever Zom's head with it, Alastor's kill was cut short as Manako could no longer hold her fire, a round from her BAR rifle cracking out amidst the tense silence. Hitting Alastor in the eye, the red light where his left eye socket is located strangely disappeared, making it seem like Manako actually put his eye out. "Gah! What the-!"

His writhing causing Zom to fall off his wrist blades, Alastor flailed around, his left hand covering his missing eye as the unexpected explosion of pain skewed his sense of direction. Making a silent gesture to get Zom's attention, Aderyn slid her Mossberg along the ground in Zom's direction. Grabbing it, Zom slid the pump back to see a new shell in place, Aderyn having loaded it during Zom's predicament. Drawing a switchblade, Aderyn leapt onto Alastor's back as he continued to flail around, wedging the blade between his ribbed neck-plating. Getting it as deep in as possible, Aderyn followed up by smacking the bottom of the knife with her fist, causing Alastor to fall to his knees. Grabbing the knife with his right hand, Alastor prepared to rise to his feet again when a miraculously already-standing Zom delivered her own straight kick in-between his eyes. Throwing him off-kilter again, it was made even worse as Zom, in a rage, fired all 8 shells one after another into the region between his eyes. Heavily cracking his thick bone-armor, the job was finished as Zom snatched Aderyn's knife from Alastor's hand, bringing it down in a two-handed smash to the center of his skull. With a low, guttural groan, Alastor's other red eye also faded out, his body falling backwards as he finally died.

"I see why you didn't kill him when he left… stubborn little bastard." Zom semi-complained, one hand over her stomach wound. More concerned with IDing Hackett, Aderyn went over to his body, kneeling by his head. Rubbing her right thumb over the vertical scar running through his left eye, Aderyn became _quite_ infuriated.

"Ah, _dammit!_ It's a body double!" Aderyn yelled, Zom coming in close to see what made her say so. Watching as Aderyn rubbed at the scar more furiously, Zom quickly realized that it was rubbing off, having just been a line of _really_ good makeup and not an actual scar. Knowing that Zom wasn't bluffing since the text came from Hackett himself right to Jockby's phone, Aderyn deduced that either Hackett got paranoid and never showed up, or he was in the back, just like Melik suggested.

"Get your gun, we're heading to the back." Aderyn quickly ordered, taking her Mossberg from Zom and loading it with more shells as Zom went to grab her AKMS. Pulling out her phone, Aderyn called Melik again. "Mel, head into the back rooms. Hackett was a body-double, he either never showed up or his meeting's in the back rooms."

_From Manako and Melik's Point of View…_

"Got it, see you down there." Melik confirmed, tapping Manako on the shoulder and signaling for her to follow. Rising from her prone position in front of the window, Manako followed as Melik simply stepped off the side of the roof, landing with little issue. Taking the ladder down, Manako and Melik pushed through a back door and into the building's back rooms. Passing his MP5 to hold it by the barrel in his left hand, Melik drew his sidearm and got it ready to fire just before they ran into a guard.

"Hey, who the fuck are you tw-" The guard started to question, being abruptly stopped as Melik stopped in front of him, raised his P2000, and fired a round right into the guard's forehead. A complete 0-to-100 escalation, Melik was distinctly not bothered by it, showing this was a process that had been done time and time again.

"Can you handle yourself?" Melik asked, putting his guns down on the floor before pulling out his holster, re-fitting it to his belt. While he knew he could handle himself, concern for his teammates was always a great one, leaving Melik with the high-concern for Manako's performance.

"I'll be fine…I don't _enjoy_ combat like my friend does, but I'll do just fine if I find any gang members. Only question is, if I find Hackett, shoot to kill?" Manako assured, also not wanting to upset someone like Aderyn. While nobody in the gang seemed like a pushover, Aderyn _especially _seemed like the type to make you regret crossing her, a fact Manako would soon learn in the coming days _quite _well.

"As much as Aderyn would want to do it herself, if you killing him makes the difference between him getting away or not, it'll be just fine if you kill him." Melik assured, holstering his pistol before holding the MP5 properly. Having come to a hallway, Manako went left while Melik went right. The entire back area being reflective tile on the floors and roof with white walls, plus the hanging tube-lightbulb fixtures every few feet, the back area gave off a cold, uninviting feeling. Tensely watching for any hostiles as their footsteps loudly echoed through the bleak room, Manako's senses were given a hard jolt as the door at the far end of a lounge room she entered was kicked wide open. Seeing Zom and Aderyn enter, Manako pulled back behind the doorframe in anticipation, just as the lounge's occupants drew their guns. Their weapons surmounting to a few 9mm pistols and SMGs, they were no match as Zom, with a fresh magazine in her AK, dropped three of them in quick succession while Aderyn took out the last one. Seeing a fifth guy that they missed, Manako stepped out, firing a round through the back of his head before he could stand up and shoot the two zombies.

"Where's Melik?" Aderyn questioned, slightly anxious. Not quite hysterical or frenetic, it was still abundantly clear Hackett was the first and only concern on Aderyn's mind.

"He went right while I went left, he should be just down this way." Manako signaled with a head-jerk, letting Zom and Aderyn go first. Speed-walking down the halls towards where Manako last saw the shape-shifting creature, it didn't take long to find a fresh body, this one eerily having its head spun 180 degrees to face perfectly backwards.

"How, uh…..how strong _is _Melik exactly?" Zom asked with slight surprise. She was just starting to think of him almost like a bald, male version of Dopple, but now, she _wasn't quite sure._

"He can't punch through steel if that's what you're thinking, but he could easily pull a person apart with his bare hands or bend thin metal piping or sheets. He may look dainty in his normal form, but trust me, he's _not _a dainty little stick you can get away with pushing around." Aderyn explained, not really fazed by it as they stepped past the body, having seen sights like it plenty of times before. Pushing through a set of dark blue double-doors, they found Melik taking cover behind a tipped-over metal table, currently in a shootout with a group of gang members. Thankfully, four of the opposition were already long-dead when Melik's backup arrived. Taking out another one right away, Manako ran to take cover beside Melik while Zom and Aderyn flipped over a different table to hide behind. Getting an idea, Zom opened fire on the light fixtures, destroying plenty of them on the opposing side of the room.

"The hell are you _doing?!_" Manako panicked, it being only once in a blue moon that she went so far as to loudly challenge Zom.

"Zombies can smell blood. The scent of their dead's spilled blood, even if it doesn't splash on them, is still painting them like a _signal flare._ We shoot out all the lights, me and Aderyn can walk right up if we're quiet and shoot them with little resistance." Zom explained, prompting Melik and Manako to shoot out the rest of the lights in the room. With the room pitch black, Zom closed her eyes, breathing in deep through her nose before tapping Aderyn on the shoulder, both standing up. Opening her eyes, things almost looked different, able to see a series of 6 red figures against a pitch black backdrop. Looking like a human-shaped red mist, the figures started to stand up, evidently trying to see if they could spot anything. Firing, Aderyn dropped one of them just as Zom killed two more, the gang members completely unable to fight back as the two zombies changed positions. In doing so, returning fire resulted in hitting nothing but the walls where the two undead once stood. Coming close, the two zombies stood on the enemy's side of their flipped tables before gunning most of them down in cold blood, leaving only one who seemed unarmed.

"Alright, alright! Stop!" The last one pleaded, Aderyn recognizing the voice.

"Hackett…oh, how _sad_. The great and vicious Dallas leader for the Snakes of the East, begging for his life at the feet of the woman he wrote off as a dumb broad….I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm _not_." Aderyn smiled, placing her shotgun right against Hackett's chest before firing, ending his life without a doubt. Grabbing his corpse by the neck, Aderyn dragged it back towards the door they entered from, out into the lit hallway.

"Yep, definitely Hackett….get out of here and let the boss know we got him, I'll phone in my detective buddies to come and take the public credit. Got any last words for our friends here?" Melik asked, pulling out his phone.

"Yeah, wouldn't have been able to do it this easy without you….have fun in Japan." Aderyn smiled, patting Zom on the arm before turning to leave. And with that, victory seemed to be in their grasp. Admittedly lingering on a small hope to recruit them, Aderyn knew their minds were made up, leaving it as nothing more than a lingering thought.

_Two days later…_

"And that's how you got him? Shooting out the lights?" Aderyn's boss asked, him and Aderyn currently sitting on a quaint park bench. The boss sitting upright, Aderyn chose instead to lay on her left hip, legs laying up on the bench with her head resting on his shoulder.

"Yep, me and that other Zombie saw them by the scent of blood sticking to them, blew Hackett's chest out myself. Melik called in his detective buddies over that bounty, so those two Monsters are gonna claim the bounty on his head and go back to Japan. Bit of a shame, but who knows, maybe they'll be back." Aderyn answered with a smile that most people she deals with would have to see to believe. Completely relaxed, everything went south as a indistinctly dressed man in a track-suit walked up to their bench, his followup action being abrupt and unexpected. Drawing a pistol with a silencer affixed to the front, the man quickly aimed it right at the chest of Aderyn's boss and fired three rounds, killing him before he could even process what was going on. Aderyn getting shot too, it mattered far less to her, only not attacking the man on sight as she was more concerned with the fate of the man that was not only her boss, but also her boyfriend. Walking away scot-free, the man left Aderyn to vainly call the paramedics, not knowing her boss would be long dead before they even arrive.

_Meanwhile, at the local PD….._

"It's hard to believe that such a day has come, but at last, the crime boss Mr. Hackett Wesner is dead. Not only do we have Detective Rawson here to thank, we also have two civilian accomplices who reportedly risked their lives to aid him in taking Hackett down. While we don't usually support vigilante justice, I'm sure we could all make an exception here. Unfortunately one of them couldn't make it, but the other is here on their behalf. Please give a round of applause to a Ms. Suzi Min." The chief of police spoke to a large crowd of fellow officers, up on a pedestal placed atop a stage. Not knowing he was referring to a fake name, the chief gestured to Zombina, who was standing there to accept the reward money while Manako watched from a nearby roof, completely out of sight. Receiving a large round of applause, Zom took a small bow before something unpleasant happened.

"Wait a second, that's the woman who shot my partner!" A cop in the crowd yelled, both Zom's unbeating real and actually-beating fake heart dropping as the round of applause sharply stopped.

"What?! No! A mugger shot him and passed me the gun!" Zom defended, not realizing that she just indirectly admitted to being there. Instead of a check or stack of reward cash, Zom now got a series of police sidearms pulled on her, as well as at least a few of them yelling for her to put her hands behind her head. Backhanding the police chief when he tried to subdue her, Zom sprinted off the stage, going right for a chainlink fence and mantling over. Landing shoulder-first, Zom scrambled to her feet before sprinting down an alley, a few gunshots ringing out behind her. Weaving through the alleys, Zom's panicked state left her oblivious as she ran into the road, the last thing she saw being the hood of a car as she rolled onto its hood, being run over at full speed.


	6. Cut Loose

Chapter 6: Cut Loose

Finding her mind start to come back, Zom mentally wandered on the thought of where she was. She could tell it was a bed, but _where_ that bed was located was a different matter.

_Japan? Doubt it, the chances of Manako dragging me to the airport and back to Japan when the reward money was a bust is somewhere between slim and nil._

_The hospital? No way, I'm not stuck wearing nothing but a paper thin window curtain of an open-backed dress._

_Back at the hotel and all this was a dream? I wish._

Creaking her eyes open, Zom found she was face-down in a soft bed, still dressed in her black cargo pants and tank top, even still having her boots on. Looking around, the first thing she saw was, strangely enough, Aderyn. Standing by in what looked to be someone's bedroom, Aderyn was dressed effectively the same as before, with the matter of _whose _bedroom it was being what struck Zom the hardest at the moment. With slightly grey walls, the smooth grey paint was offset by the multitude of various posters pinned around that gave a far more punk-feel to the room, along with the myriad of clutter on the nearby desk and drawers ranging from CDs to various decorative models.

"Aderyn, did you come with us to Japan?" Zom asked in a semi-confused state, still hopeful that she made it back. Given the combination of Aderyn's presence, as well as the distinctly non-hotel-like vibe of the room, this option was _quickly _failing in terms of likelihood.

"Nope, you never _left_. You got hit by a car running from the cops and Manako found you before the police did. She went looking for me, and I brought you back to my apartment: That's technically _my_ bed you're in right now." Aderyn explained, pulling up a chair by the bed. Strangely, her expression was exceptionally agitated despite her obvious hospitality, bordering on a pent-up blood-rage.

"Damn…so the reward money really _was_ a bust?" Zom inquired, fresh out of ideas on how else to get the money.

"Yep, the police apparently recognized you from some cop shooting, they think you murdered a cop and ran. Now that they've gotten a good look at your face, you're not getting out of this country by air. At least, not unless you find a way to rearrange your face and remove the stitches." Aderyn answered, delivering the unfortunate truth. With her a wanted woman, there was _no_ way Zom could get on a plane without being stopped by airport security and apprehended.

"So…we're stuck here? Manako didn't even make it out somehow?" Zom continued to question, her mindset shifting more and more. Even if she never got back, the usually-brash Zombie still wanted Manako to make it out easy.

"No, I didn't…..I also made a proposition to Aderyn here that I wanted to wait for you to wake up and hear before we settled on it." Manako stepped in, her change in outfit nearly bowling Zom over. In place of her business-like attire from before, or some sort of loose, heavily feminine clothing like she'd wear on days off back home, Manako had on a faded tan drape jacket, olive green pleated scarf, dark tan tank top, black and yellow mechanic's gloves, and black cargo pants of her own. As if that wasn't strange enough, the combat boots she was wearing made Zom wonder if she was even still looking at the same Cyclops.

"Manako, is that…..since when did you dress like that?" Zom asked with a puzzled stare, wondering if she was hallucinating.

"Not for long, but staying in business-wear was always a bit difficult back home. I'm just taking advantage of the chance to wear something more…flexible, for work. If you accept, we might be joining Aderyn's gang." Manako explained, taking a seat in a different chair as she explained the situation.

"I figured you'd say yes, but still: You in? Because I want some fucking _blood_ against the Snakes of the East after they killed my boyfriend, and you don't exactly have anywhere you're going now." Aderyn offered, extending her right hand to offer a handshake.

"Shouldn't you run it by your boss first?" Zom pointed out, not realizing how stupid of a question it was.

"My boyfriend _was _my boss. With him dead, I'm technically in charge now, and I say the Snakes are going to _regret_ what they did. Only question is if _you_ want to jump in on the fun." Aderyn clarified, still keeping her hand outstretched. Waiting patiently, Zom could tell Aderyn wasn't angry with her, but was nonetheless undeniably hellbent on a _very _specific outcome.

"Well, these damn Americans have pointed guns at me, run me out of shops, framed me for murder, denied me my hard-earned money, and left me stuck in their country. Might as well return the favor a bit, right?" Zom gave a razor-toothed grin, her previous attempts at restraint, morality, and delicate behavior obviously vanishing from her mind as she shook hands with Aderyn. Climbing out of the bed, Zom was quickly hit with something that Aderyn had pulled from behind her chair, tossing it right into Zom's arms. Getting a better look at it, it was a brand new, untouched, dark brown bomber jacket with clean, beautiful looking fur along the collar and the inside.

"Manako here told me you have a thing for bomber jackets. Lucky for you, Evalyn's a Lamia, so she knows _quite_ a bit about those kinds of jackets and where to get them. Got it for you just yesterday in case you accepted." Aderyn explained, Zom putting it on and seeming quite happy about it. Actually getting up now, the two Zombies were the first out the door, the living room holding even _more_ surprises.

"Hey, look who's up….. did she accept?" Katalie asked, not looking up from her Pecheneg LMG as she cleaned it. Seated on one of the surprisingly high quality, bright-white couches Aderyn had in the apartment, Melik was seated next to her with his legs crossed and his attention drawn to his phone, his height moved to 5'11" and his attire now a black hoodie and loose, dark blue jeans. Even then, the fedora was _still _present. Meanwhile, Evalyn was on a different couch altogether, her serpentine lower half causing her to take up the entire couch, and even then she still had to fold her lower half over on itself to fit.

"Yeah, I did, and I'm _done_ trying to be nice to these assholes. Do you guys have anything you planned on doing?" Zom inquired, wanting nothing more than to relieve this pent-up aggression in the most public, bullet-filled, violent way she possibly could.

"Well, there's a small-time bank here in Houston we were planning on robbing since the Snakes have plenty of their money there, we were just waiting to see if you wanted to come with." Evalyn answered, poking away on a computer doing something only she knew.

"Sounds good to me, I vote to go whichever route has the highest chance of meeting the police…what's the plan?" Zom asked, leaning against the far wall.

"The bank's relatively crappy in quality. No motion sensors, a relatively basic digital silent alarm, only a handful of guards, nothing to protect the tellers, a pretty average vault, and no auto-locking doors. Manako, you know how to drive?" Evalyn laid out, not taking her unseen eyes away from the computer screen.

"I know how to drive, but it's difficult since I don't have any depth perception, so it would be better to find someone else for that." Manako sheepishly answered, remembering back to all the crashes her lack of depth perception caused when she was learning how to drive their stolen car.

"We've got special contact lenses for Cyclops Monsters that help give them depth perception, our old Cyclops buddy used to use them before he died. We've still got plenty lying around that you could use." Evalyn assured, having that problem covered. "With that said, Aderyn, Zom, Katalie, and Melik; You all go in through the front and keep the civilians in check. Manako, you're going to drive me around back so I can be out of sight and have some peace of mind while I fight with the silent alarm system."

"You're a hacker too? Is there anything you _can't_ do?" Zom wondered, finding Evalyn's skill set a bit ridiculous.

"Well, I can't drive, I can't even _sit_ in the front seat of a car and can _barely_ sit in the back seat, I can't sneak around in small spaces without nearly knocking something over, and I can pass out in 60-something degree weather if I'm not careful. Really, hacking and cars are my two best skills…I _would_ say knife fighting and gun use are notable skills too, but really everyone in this crew can shoot a gun pretty well." Evalyn countered, putting it into perspective that she did have some pretty prominent drawbacks. "That's why I need Manako: So she can drive me around back in a pickup and get us out of there if we get discovered since I'll be sitting in the tailgate."

"So who actually gets the vault open? Because unless you intend to use pounds of explosives, I can't help." Zom stated up-front, not knowing everyone's skill set.

"That's Melik's job, he knows how to operate the fancy rig we've got set up to get through the vault door. Between me keeping the alarm down, you guys acting as heavy muscle on the civilians, and Melik working his magic on the vault, the only thing we need to worry about is a civvie calling the police without us noticing. Just confiscate everybody's phones, watches, and earpieces. Search their pockets clean for anything that might get a message out, even a text." Evalyn continued to instruct, proving she had nearly every angle planned out.

"Watches? What are they going to do, reflect a warning signal off the sunlight with their watch?" Zom joked, finding that part of the instructions ridiculous.

"There are watches these days that wirelessly link to your phone through Bluetooth, so someone could still dial 911 off their watch if they have one of those, even if you took their phone." Evalyn shot down, proving her point was, in fact, _quite_ valid.

"Oh…..so that's it? Melik busts open the vault and we throw the cash in some bags? What about getting out?" Zom asked, figuring that was the most important part.

"The police will be expecting to look for a vehicle with a bunch of fat bags trying to make a fast getaway. Once you guys bag the money, Melik will bring it to the back door and swap it out for a bunch of matching bags filled with random junk. He throws the money in mine and Manako's truck, you guys take the junk bags back out the front in broad daylight like a bunch of rookies, get in your vehicle that you'll have parked out front, and make a getaway. The police will prioritize you because they won't expect anything more complex, we get away safe with the cash, then we all meet up again at Club Venue and go over what we got. Also, don't steal jewelry or devices off of the civilians to keep as bonus profit, the chances of getting tracked are more hassle than it's worth." Evalyn plotted out, finalizing their plan.

"Sounds good to me, everyone else ready?" Katalie looked around at her fellow Monsters, finishing cleaning her Pecheneg before making sure she had plenty of ammo. Conveniently enough, that ammo came in the form of a couple belts inside a duffel bag that she proceeded to sling over her shoulder, the bag itself resting under her right arm. Melik putting away his phone before grabbing his UMP40 SMG off the table, all that left was weapons for the two Zombies.

"Yep. Come on, I've got guns for you and me in the truck we'll be taking. Evalyn, go ahead and give Manako the address for the bank when we get down there." Aderyn directed, Evalyn closing her computer before slithering off the couch and out the door. With everyone else not far behind, they went outside to a pair of black Dodge Ram trucks with black-tinted windows parked not far off. One possessing a camper top while the other had an open bed, Katalie climbed into the open bed while Evalyn went inside the one with a camper, their respective drivers also getting in.

_45 minutes later, behind Delmand-Knights Bank…_

"Alright, I'm in position. Working my way into the silent alarm now." Evalyn phoned in, comfortably in position in the back of her camper-top Ram truck as she worked away on her computer.

"So, my part in the plan is I just sit here and wait, then drive you out when we're done or compromised?" Manako asked, making sure her Beretta 96FS was loaded before clicking the safety on and putting it in the passenger seat.

"Yep, I've got AC plugs back here, heating coils, and even a satellite internet connection…..all _you_ need to do is drive." Evalyn answered, Manako admittedly finding it somewhat humorous how the heating coils drew a bit of a similarity between Evalyn and a more basic reptile.

_Meanwhile, just outside the front of the bank…._

"Alright, everyone ready? By the time we get in there, Evalyn will have the alarm frozen, so just remember: Loot everyone's pockets for _any_ electronic devices and steal their watches and earpieces. I say round them all up in a pile and have Katalie step on them so nobody can sneak by us and grab one." Aderyn suggested, Melik passing an AKMS rifle from the backseat up to Zom, followed by Aderyn's sawed-off Mossberg 500, the Mossberg series seeming to be a favorite of hers. For the sake of not being identified, almost all of them had undergone a small attire change save for Melik. Aderyn's hair was now done up in a bun and hidden underneath her beanie, as well as a skull mouth-painted bandana being tied to cover the lower half of her face. In tandem with that, she had her hoodie on and zipped up, as well as a pair of black mechanic's gloves. In contrast to that, Zom got a spare balaclava from Evalyn, as well as a black backwards-worn military cap to make it slightly more visually appealing. Wearing her new bomber jacket, it was zipped up fully with a pair of black leather gloves on her hands to avoid leaving fingerprints around. Meanwhile in the back, Katalie had on a long, black, seemingly leather trench coat with a raised hood, a skull mouth-bandana like Aderyn, black leather gloves, and her same black pants and boots from before. Since Melik could change his appearance and fingerprints at will, he was going open-faced with his natural, blank face and no gloves. After all, in the worst case scenario, someone thinks he's some loon with a tight white mask on.

"I can work with that….why not you and Melik go hold up the tellers while me and Katalie round up the civilians?" Zom offered, being passed a few spare magazines for her AKMS.

"You just want to push some Americans around, don't you?" Aderyn chuckled, knowing that Zom was done being Ms. Nice Zombie.

"Well, that might be _part_ of it." Zom admitted, a small text from Evalyn alerting them that the alarm was taken care of to indicate that they should get moving. With that, Zom, Aderyn, and Melik all disembarked from the truck, followed by Katalie stepping up onto the edge of the bed and dropping down. Pecheneg in hand with her left hand on the carrying handle and her right one down low to hit the trigger, Katalie avoided the urge to kick the flimsy doors to the bank right off as they stepped inside.

"Alright, nobody move and nobody gets hurt!" Aderyn yelled, racking the slide on her Mossberg to get everyone's attention. Almost countering that point, one of the first things Zom did after stepping inside was swing at the nearest civilian, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, decking him in the cheek with the flat back of her AKMS. Knocking him right down to the floor, Aderyn improvised. "Alright…everybody get down on the floor, or else _that'll_ happen."

"You heard the lady, everyone down, and nothing bad happens. All of you, step away from the counter and get out here. _Now._" Melik ordered, aiming his UMP40 at the tellers. With only basic glass and no metal barrier they could raise due to the bank's relatively low quality, they were forced to comply.

"And why should I listen to you? I'll have you know I work at the best law firm this side of the coun-" A suited civilian tried to argue, his sentence being cut short as Katalie took her right hand off her Pecheneg, only to grip him by the throat and toss him into the teller counter's glass. His back slamming into the glass as it shattered to pieces, the man collapsed to the floor as his point was _quite_ heavily crushed.

"See? You argue, you get hurt." Aderyn spoke to the crowd, all of them now down on the floor face-down with their hands touching the ground above their heads. Zom and Aderyn going through each one for any and all electronic devices, they eventually rounded up every last pager, phone, watch, bluetooth earpiece, and any other electronic device they found in a pile over by the teller counter, only for Katalie to stomp it all to pieces.

"You think 'stepped on by an angry Ogre' is covered in the warranty on any of those devices?" Zom joked, standing with her back to the counter as Melik went into the back, looking for the vault. Hearing some gunfire go off in the back, it was largely just Melik taking out the ill-equipped and under-trained guards that the bank had hired. "Aren't American banks usually better than this?"

"Usually, but Delmand-Knights is run by a couple cheap-ass morons. Their whole MO is don't spend too much on security, but make the bank a pretty inviting option too. That way, they get a lot of people using them but don't have to cut out a very big portion for other things. The drawback is it makes them pretty easy to rob….they don't even _try_ to hire professionally trained guards with real firearms experience, just whatever lackey says they legally own a 9mm and want a job. Even worse than that is the tellers have no protection: Basic glass and no metal barrier to bring up? Only reason they stay afloat is so many people hopped on the bandwagon that what we're doing is considered acceptable losses to them." Aderyn explained, not having any complaints since it made for _incredibly_ easy money. If anything, more money went into decor and a nice building rather than security, since the building had a high ceiling, an all-glass chandelier, red carpets, and some kind of fancy, marble-like walls. With all the civilians on the ground and the meager amount of guards in the building either dead or down with the civilians, all they had to do now was wait as Melik went outside to retrieve his equipment, then came back in and actually set to work on the vault.

Having come in with a series of black duffel bags, all but one of them were empty. Going into the filled one, Melik pulled out a complex, folded up metal frame, which he proceeded to set up in front of the vault. Moving the metal pipes into place and locking them together with a series of small pins that were also in the bag, Melik had a completed frame with magnetic strips on the front end of it. Pulling a modified rotary hammer drill from the bag as well, Melik slotted the drill into the frame before sliding it up against the vault, making sure he had the alignment just right. Flicking a small lever on the frame, a series of pneumatic pumps and release bolts flicked into motion, causing a small piece of metal to bear down on the drill's trigger, allowing it to drill away despite Melik being hands-free. In addition to that, another pump slowly pushed the drill forward, ensuring it would continue to drill further in despite nobody operating it.

"Alright, drill's fired up. Looks like a pretty basic safe, and knowing Delmand-Knights, I'd give it roughly ten minutes. 15 at the most." Melik informed, walking back up front since all the guards in the back were dead.

_Meanwhile, with Evalyn and Manako…_

"So, that's how you guys ended up here? Zom tried to cost some guy a bit of money and _blew up a whole damn store?_" Evalyn laughed, still on a Skype chat between her computer and the phone Manako had been given.

"Yeah…..I could tell she hadn't done it on purpose because of the look on her face after it happened. She was….pretty nervous, honestly. If it were something on-the-job back home she'd probably have cheered a bit, but here? She did nothing but give me a sheepish grin." Manako smiled, finding a bit of comfort in the fact that Evalyn was looking right at her on the video chat instead of averting her head to be slightly off-center. Probably just got used to it from dealing with the other Cyclops. "Honestly, usually she's much more sadistic, unhinged, and behaves more like she's dancing between the line of sanity. Only reason she's been so well-mannered up until now is she didn't want to sink our chances of getting back home. Now that those chances had been sunk anyway, I guess she's just going to cut loose and be her old self again."

"No wonder why Aderyn's starting to like her, they're both clumsy, accidentally destructive, and morally loose!" Evalyn cracked, not noticing as she accidentally flicked the charger cord on her computer out with her tail-tip. Combine that with the defective battery that she kept putting off replacing, and things were going to get bad _very_ soon.

"Aderyn's clumsy?" Manako asked, somewhat interested.

"Oh yeah, can't dance for shit, trips on herself a lot, and in the mornings, she usually wakes up by running into a wall….you'd think she's legally _blind_ before 9AM." Evalyn explained, remembering the drowsy, half-awake state Aderyn was always in before 9 in the morning. Without fail, until 9 came around, she was a useless basket-case if she woke up before then. "Her aim isn't too bad though, she just prefers shotguns since they're less effort. What about you?"

"I prefer precision rifles. Most of my experience is with a large, sightless anti-materiel rifle that was custom-made for me, but I can use smaller guns too." Manako answered, admittedly bored since the heist was going off without a hitch.

"I think I know something you'll like then. A buddy of mine, some Kobold parkour artist, recently got his hands on a well-kept Mosin Nagant rifle. Doesn't really intend on keeping it, last I heard he was thinking of selling it since he got it for free. I could talk to him and see about getting it off of him for you." Evalyn offered, watching as her computer still left the silent alarm system caught up and clueless at what was happening.

"That….might be nice. Can you get it without the scope?" Manako inquired, her large eye having never agreed with scopes. To boot, her eye practically acted like one anyway.

"I don't think it had one anyway, I'll text him about it when we're done with this." Evalyn settled, her heart dropping as her computer screen went black. "What?! The hell….._dammit!_"

_Meanwhile, back inside the bank…_

With the drill having done its job, Melik could now peer inside and more easily manipulate the vault to ensure he had the right combination. Deeply focused on his work, his attention was briefly dragged away by a text alert, which he checked only on the possibility it was from Evalyn. And sure enough, it was:

_Computer died for some damn reason, silent alarm's going to trip. Either get that money out now or bug out, cops'll be here soon._

Working faster, Melik was thankfully almost done with the vault, being able to slowly pry the vault door open shortly after. Swinging it open as far as it could go, Melik bagged up his drill frame before calling for Aderyn and Zom to come help.

"What's going on, there a problem?" Aderyn asked, running in as Melik's call was simply that he could use some help.

"Apparently Evalyn's computer died, the silent alarm's probably tripping any moment now. We need to bag this cash and get it to the back, _fast_." Melik explained, tossing an empty duffel bag to Aderyn. Zom also picking up a few, they left their guns by the door as they each shoveled the stacks of money into the bags.

"Does this sort of thing _usually_ happen?" Zom wondered, shoveling stacks of money in as fast as she could. Admittedly, it almost felt….._good. Exhilarating even._

"No, if I had to guess her battery probably died since it's a worn out piece of crap. I keep telling her to replace it, but she _always_ puts it off. Let's hope _this_ makes her rethink that decision." Aderyn answered, zipping up the bag she was filling and tossing it outside the vault before moving on to the next one. With only one bag each to go, the copious amount of money they were stealing was almost done.

"How many of these heists have you guys pulled?" Zom wondered, still frantically dumping money into her current bag with her left arm.

"About 6 or 7, honestly Melik's probably the only reason they haven't gotten a better shot at finding us. You'll find we've got some pretty nice custom toys like our trucks, and it's _all_ because of these heists, along with knowing the right people." Aderyn enlightened, done with her bag. Heading back out of the vault, she snatched up her Mossberg before deciding to get moving with depositing the bags in Manako and Evalyn's truck. Throwing two of them over her shoulder, that left 6 more as she forced her way through the back doors. Passing the admittedly large mess Melik had made, Aderyn was surprised to see half of the guards had their backs turned to him, most of the bullet holes in the room coming from either Melik's UMP or their dying attempts to return fire, which seemed to mostly hit the ceiling. Finding the rear entrance, Aderyn didn't care that it was technically a fire exit as the alarm was tripped anyway. Spotting the truck, Aderyn dropped the bags by the back camper door before knocking on it, the doors swinging open to reveal Evalyn waiting with the dummy bags. "I _told_ you to replace that battery."

"Ha ha, _very funny._ Hurry up and get the bags in, I'll buy a new one once the cops stop looking for us." Evalyn retorted, tossing the fake bags out of the truck as Aderyn passed the real ones in. With Melik and Zom each lugging three as they too came around, the rest of the money was loaded in as Evalyn closed the camper doors. Moving around to the driver side, Aderyn had some simple instructions once Manako rolled down the window.

"Drive slow, drive calm, and try to avoid the major areas. Just don't do anything suspicious, and more importantly, try to stay away from us. They'll be looking for an open-backed Ram with an Ogre in the back, so the police shouldn't be on you too hard if you let us go first. Just…don't hang around so long that the police see you back here either." Aderyn instructed, to which Manako gave a silent nod. With the three of them taking the fake bags, the three Monsters moved back out front, where Katalie had already engaged with some newly-arrived police. More specifically, they were largely hiding outside as Katalie rained down a hail of gunfire, smashing the majority of the glass at the bank's front end and even blowing the brains of a daring cop clean out.

"That's right, keep hiding you spineless schmucks!" Katalie cheered, reaching into her duffel bag to pull out another ammo belt as the current one was expended. The surviving police trying to return fire, they strangely found their rounds bouncing off her trench coat. As it turns out, while it _resembled _leather, the trench coat was really made of a kevlar-like fabric unique to Katalie's homeland. The Japanese government had been trying to get their hands on it for years, but all to no avail. Reloading her LMG, Katalie actually wasn't the first one to fire as a cop was dropped from two rounds to the heart, courtesy of Zom's AKMS.

"Hey Kat, heads up!" Zom called out, tossing two of the dummy-bags over to Katalie. With Melik and Zom providing cover-fire, Katalie was able to sling the two bags up on her other side before opening fire again, trying to advance and push the police back. Seeing that they couldn't effectively stop her, the police began to fall back, one even trying and failing to climb and dive over the hood of his squad car only to take three in the back. Passing by the mass of civilians, one caught Zom's eye _quite _a bit. Stopping to look at him, Zom couldn't be happier.

_It's the mugger that screwed me over with the cops….._

Grabbing him by the back of the neck, Zom hoisted him onto his feet and pushed him in front of her as a hostage.

"W-what the hell do you want with me?!" The mugger panicked, successful bank robbery evidently just a little bit more than what he could be calm about.

"Oh, you'll find _that _one out soon enough." Zom chuckled, stepping past the dead cops at the door as they exited the bank. "Hey Mel, watch this asshole in the back with you, I'm getting in the tailgate. Going to want him for later."

"Got it, hurry up before more cops show up!" Melik called back, gunning down a daring officer who tried to take a shot at him. Throwing the mugger in the back seat, Zom climbed into the tailgate with Katalie just as Melik and Aderyn got in, all of them making sure to have dumped the dummy bags in the tailgate first. With everyone in, they made sure to make as high-profile of an escape as possible, Zom and Katalie opening fire on the cops they left behind to keep their attention. The more grandiose they made this chase, the lower the chances of Manako and Evalyn getting chased at all.

"You know what, I think I'm going to like you in the long run!" Katalie complimented, having to raise her voice as Aderyn was flooring it on the gas. Still trying to keep her aim straight, Katalie was able to take out the driver of a pursuing squad car, evident by the red splatter on the windshield's inside. With the driver dead, the car posed the possibility of causing a _small _traffic issue as it veered into the oncoming lane, getting into a head-on collision with a civilian car before swerving sideways and blocking the lane. Some more squad cars trying to circumvent it and keep going, these attempts were also foiled as Zom opened fire on their tires, making their pursuit attempts even harder. For the most part they were getting away, aside from a single squad-car that had pulled up along the right side.

"Pull over, now!" The cop yelled, the next step up being trying to shoot them. Eliciting a response, the back-right window of the truck was rolled down, revealing Melik's snowy white, featureless face. Stunning the cop in shock, he could only watch in confusion as Melik tipped his fedora to the cop with his left hand, followed by executing said cop with a round through the driver-side window with his P2000. Proving his point quite clearly, Melik rolled the window back up as Aderyn made a hard turn into a less financially-blessed part of town, breaking line of sight with the police. Rolling down her window as they pulled into a semi-dilapidated, disrepaired mega-garage, Aderyn had some simple instructions:

"Get the garage door, code's 8965." Aderyn stuck her head out the window, calling for Zom or Katalie to do it since Melik was tied up watching Zom's hostage. Deciding to be the one to do it, Zom hopped out of the tailgate, running over to input the code on a small, weathered keypad. The garage door rising, Aderyn drove the truck in, shortly followed by Zom running inside and hitting a switch to lower the garage door.

"Alright, we'll be safe in here….just stay inside, don't go near the windows, don't shoot your guns, and we'll be alright. Mind explaining who your friend is, though?" Aderyn asked, clicking the safety on her 500 before putting it down on a table. While a decent portion of the garage was still empty space for storing cars, the rest of it seemed to have some aftermarket renovating done to add rooms and furnishings to make staying here more pleasant.

"It's the guy who framed me for killing a cop, noticed him on the floor back at the bank." Zom explained, the mugger's attempted protest as Melik had him down on his knees being silenced by a strike to the back of the head from said shapeshifter's UMP40 stock. "We don't need to have him for long, I just want to have a _little _bit of payback."

Delivering her line in tandem with kneeling to be on eye level with the mugger, as well as lifting his chin to make him look at her, little did the mugger know that those mismatched blue and green eyes might as well have been the gates to Hell itself. Deciding he was sufficiently scared, Zom walked off to take a seat on a beaten and withered couch, just as Aderyn clicked on an old radio. Taking off her balaclava, the song that was playing opened with an acoustic guitar and relatively uninteresting lyrics, but as it played, something stuck out in Zom's head as she rested it back against the couch, eyes closed:

_There ain't no easy way, no there ain't no easy way out_

Continuing to listen, one single thought stuck out in Zom's mind as the song continued to play, causing a small, sharp grin to form on Zom's face.

_No easy way out? Good, because the hard way's pretty fun so far._

Post-Chapter Note

And with that, the first big event of the story concludes. I'll admit I was worried about if I'd keep anybody at all looking at this story given I needed to dial back Zom's personality for the sake of their attempts at a genuine escape from the USA (Trying to legally escape doesn't work too well when you're cackling like a mad-woman and dual-wielding AKMs or something), but now that those plans have been skewed, she's free to be her old self again. She won't be so ridiculously enthusiastic about violence that her dialogue's almost a chore to read, but she'll be far less restrained than in previous chapters. In addition to that, any feedback on the bank heist or the other Monsters would be highly appreciated. To me, good heists from a writing perspective are almost like an art form. Down the line there'll be plenty of them in various forms ranging from banks to museums to all sorts of other things, so the more feedback I can garner to improve, the better. It also goes without saying that, yes, the heist was at least partially inspired by Payday 2's typical formula (The fact that the chapter was written while listening to Armed to the Teeth and Razormind from the Payday 2 soundtrack wasn't exactly helping to distance that inspiration)

I don't care how seemingly random, off-focus, or otherwise minuscule a question one of you might have seems, any questions _whatsoever _about the story that I can answer, I will gladly do so. Obviously I won't spoil major plot points or story arcs, but I'll gladly fill in any gaps that I can (Such as the fact that I'm ret-conning Aderyn's shotgun to a sawed-off 500 instead of a 590 since, upon further inspection, I didn't really find too much evidence that such a thing exists, and I'd rather go with something I can visually see in action to know I'm not giving crap details that aren't possible)

Also, the song at the end is Ain't No Easy Way by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club


	7. Highway Drop

Chapter 7: Highway Drop

_One week later, Garage Hideout….._

Having been hiding in the same garage as when they escaped following their heist at Delmand-Knights, the process up until now had been relatively simple: Don't make any noise and just hide out, for which Zom was currently sleeping in. Getting a rough shake on the shoulder, her eyes creaked open to find Aderyn had something to say.

"Good news, we're finally _going_ somewhere today. Evalyn and Manako got away with the money and they've started getting it split off between our different accounts so it seems inconspicuous. You and me on the other hand are going to go meet a friend of mine who knows all about the shit relating to inconspicuous purchases. They also mentioned something about an armored truck job we might be interested in." Aderyn explained, back to her usual attire with the small exception of having kept the mechanic's gloves from a week ago, as well as trading the black hoodie jacket for a red-checkered flannel shirt.

"Let me guess: It involves the Snakes?" Zom guessed as she got up, highly doubtful that Aderyn's grudge went away in a week. Grabbing her Glock from a small table that served as a makeshift nightstand, Zom tucked it behind her belt-line and hid it under her shirt as Aderyn's face took on a sort of semi-innocent expression.

"Well, you know…can't be having the competition experience any successful ventures in this line of work now, can we?" Aderyn said with a smile, both of them knowing that dead Snakes alone made it worthwhile to her. Following Aderyn to the door, Zom noticed something odd. At least, something other than the peculiar sight of Katalie sleeping on a couch that left a good 2' of her legs hanging off the side.

"Hey, where's Melik?" Zom noted, also noting that the mugger was gone.

"Work, since he technically works for the local police. He had a few days off back when we robbed the bank, but he got called in this morning over a Missing Persons report, probably for that mugger we nabbed. Knowing him, he'll probably try to divert them into thinking the dumbass just got into crime that's a _little_ too high-level for him, and it came back to bite him. Speaking of, I actually took that asshat to the very person we'll be meeting. I know, I know, you wanted to torture him, but when you see what he's probably stuck in now, you won't mind." Aderyn explained, knowing Zom probably had as big of a grudge against that mugger as she did for the Snakes. Exiting the garage, they found Aderyn's Mustang parked just outside, into which they both got in. "It's not far, just a warehouse a little ways further out of town."

"You know, I've got to ask….I get you guys are technically criminals, but what-all do you guys do?" Zom inquired as Aderyn started to drive, having never exactly gotten a full run-down.

"In terms of criminal activities? Well, robberies as you've seen, arms dealing, paid vandalism, and we've even been paid to piss off the cops so they're distracted and oblivious of the client's activities before." Aderyn explained, oddly leaving out one very big illegal trade.

"Nothing about drugs? I'm not saying you _should,_ but it just seems odd since you checked just about every other box on the list." Zom noted, not bothered by it in the slightest.

"Drugs are….." Aderyn paused, showing that she was having to think long and hard about how to word this. "We don't _make _drugs, we don't have any meth labs or weed farms or anything like that, and we don't buy drugs like coke from foreign suppliers. Personal policy of mine. But…"

"_But….?_" Zom repeated, wanting Aderyn to finish her sentence.

"I said we don't _make _drugs. Now, stealing drugs from rival gangs and selling it is technically a different story. Because if we _make _drugs, we're putting more product on the market. But, if we just steal from some other gang and sell it in their place, we're not putting more drugs out in the world, just….changing who profits from the ones that were going to be sold anyway. Technically it's not as bad." Aderyn explained, her point essentially being one giant loophole.

"Wow….you should've thought about going into politics." Zom chuckled, knowing enough about American politics to know that a loophole-heavy mindset like hers would fit right in.

"Says the foreigner…..even though, the whole world pretty much knows the American government sucks." Aderyn meekly admitted, not really able to defend it between all the back-and-forth infighting and their almost biased hate against Monsters that's like the elephant in the room: Everybody knows it's there, but nobody wants to bring it up. Finding the warehouse she was looking for, Aderyn pulled in before getting out, Zom following soon after with an albeit semi-suspicious mindset.

"Your friend lives in an abandoned warehouse?" Zom asked with a semi-offput tone, getting the feeling that not only was this friend a Monster, but a big one at that. Aderyn leading the way, the blonde Zombie opened one of the smaller doors, not feeling a need to open the massive, box-truck-worthy garage doors.

"Yep…hey, Sal! You in here?" Aderyn called out, looking around for any sign of her friend. Notably, the warehouse was still very much well-kept on the inside, with desks loaded up with computers and radios, as well as a few firearms lying around. In addition, there, were large wooden crates with writing on the side giving the impression they were set to be delivered somewhere, a billboard on one wall with a map of Texas that was pricked like a voodoo doll with thumbtacks showing it was most likely shipping-related.

"So, this…..Sal, he's in charge of imports and exports for your gang?" Zom wondered, finding the setup to be quite well organized. Too busy looking at Sal's setup, Zom didn't notice as the Monster of the hour slowly descended from an upper floor behind her, all 8 feet slowly and gently touching the ground as she landed. Poking Zom in the back with her right pointer, Sal caused what would probably be the closest thing to fear anyone would ever see Zom exhibit. Yelping slightly at the sudden, sharp prick in her back, Zom whipped around to find herself staring back at an Arachne.

"Well, you were wrong about the gender, but the rest: Yeah. Sal's the one who manages all our shipping and ordering of goods, our through-point for organizing outside support, and a sort of advisor to the rest of us on money matters." Aderyn explained, giving Zom a moment to catch her breath after the jump-scare. In stark contrast to the last Arachne Zom ever met, this one was actually of black ethnicity, with dark brown skin. She did, however, possess many of the same features as the other one, with black, hard-armored arms; sharp-pointed long fingers, and two extra pairs of eyes, all of which were a solid, almost soulless black color with a slight tinge of blue in them. Almost as if to keep a trend going from her eyes, Sal had long, black dreads tied back in a ponytail, with around the last 2" of each dread dyed dark blue. Finally, for attire, she wore a black tank top, a dark grey leather jacket over that, and a dark grey hoodie sweater was tied around her hips, the sleeves crossing in front just barely serving the purpose of an Arachne's version of lower-wear.

"It's alright, a lot of people assume wrong about it: The name's Saleen (Pronounced Suh-Lean), but everyone just says Sal to mislead the new guys like yourself. Anyway, about what I called you out here for: Aderyn just wanted me to give you the quick rundown on what you shouldn't do with the various cards that'll be holding the money you stole from that Delmand-Knights bank." Sal explained, skittering over to one of her computers. Obviously having quite a bit of practice, her keyboard was actually quite undamaged despite her far-from-conventional fingers as she pecked away in double-checking the info she wanted Aderyn to hear.

"Cards? As in, plural? Doesn't that somewhat defeat the purpose of being inconspicuous if you've got a massive amount of cards all tied back to one small group?" Zom pointed out, finding it quite odd.

"Yeah, we've only got about 6 cards split between Melik's Jack Rawson personality, Aderyn, and a Draco friend of ours named Salazar. We only use it for things like food, gas, car repairs and legal mods, stuff like that. Gun purchases and everything of that nature's done off the books with unmarked bills instead of through a bank. So, if you end up getting one yourself somehow, just save it for the everyday stuff any normal person would buy, keep the extravagant things out of that loop. Speaking of unmarked bills, I think the Snakes might have some we can take off their hands." Saleen explained, not turning to look back at them as she explained all of this. Pulling up a pair of images on her computer, this was linked to a much larger monitor just next to it, which was the one used for a proper presentation. "As Aderyn would tell you, the Snakes move most of their cargo in pickup trucks or box-trucks depending on the size, so not only is it strange that, according to a rat we've got in their organization, they've gotten their hands on some proper armored trucks, but they're also using it to transport 'valuable' cargo. If their cocaine and illegally-imported guns aren't considered special enough for more than a box truck, then whatever they're moving that dictates the use of an armored truck with a magnetic lock must be one _giant_ prize. If I had to _guess_, I'd say it's either outright military-grade weaponry or unmarked bills, both of which could benefit them quite a bit if they decide to come at us."

"I saw them importing short-barreled AR-15-styled guns at that fish-packing plant: Is that what you're referring to?" Zom reminded, hoping that was the extent of it.

"Maybe, but I'd say more things that you can't really pass off as a sporting weapon like RPK LMGs, M2 Browning Machine Guns, RPG launchers and warheads, maybe an M79 Grenade Launcher. Oh, maybe even one of Milkor's 6-shot MGLs if our luck's _really_ hitting the crap. Good news is any guard detail around the trucks won't be _carrying _those guns, so unless you give them about 30 minutes and a crowbar to pop their crates open, you won't be dodging rockets or anything like that, but the fact that it's in their possession at all is still _quite _bad. Honestly, sending an assassin with a silenced gun to kill Aderyn's boyfriend was pretty tame by their standards, usually they'd do something like come by a target's car with 10 guns and turn that thing into metal swiss with the target inside it, which makes them having explosives even worse. I've got a lead on a trio of these armored trucks that are due to arrive at one of the Snakes' warehouses further up-town two days from now. Find a way to stop them and steal them, then drive two of them back to the Venue. The third one we're emptying of its product, which one of the two Venue-bound trucks will take, and driving where it was going anyway. Classic Trojan Horse entry."

"So whoever takes the third truck is going to get into the warehouse and then…..steal whatever they've got there?" Zom guessed, looking forward to this despite the obvious curiosity of how in the hell they were going to stop three armored trucks.

"Precisely. I've been thinking on how we're going to do it, and I might have a solution. Of course, it means blowing a section of the highway when the trucks pass over to drop them into a decrepit parking lot where you'll be waiting to kill them all, but the good news is at least First Responders will be too concerned with making sure no drunk asshats drive their car into the hole to notice you too much. Drop isn't too bad either, only about 30 feet, so unless those trucks have some seriously second-rate suspension, they should survive the fall just fine. I've also got a friend of ours who can set the explosives, though she's a bit…..dim. Better than most of her race, but still, bird-brained is bird-brained." Saleen explained, furthering her presentation with images of the freeway in question, followed by a full-body shot of a black-winged Harpy with matching black hair. Like all Harpies, her frame was dainty and thin, though her talons seemed to be more profoundly sharpened than most. Her attire was a pair of cut-down yoga pants that stopped at the knees and a black crop top, both of which kept in line with a Harpy's need for aerodynamics. Her hair seemed like it was long, but it was hard to tell as the majority of it was tied back in a frayed-out bun with only two parallel strips hanging in the front.

"Sounds good, just give us the address on where to be and when to be there." Aderyn thanked, getting her phone to alert everyone else on the plan.

_Meanwhile, at a private gun-range…._

"So, will you tell me what you had me drive you out here for?" Manako asked as Evalyn opened the doors of the camper top on their Ram truck, the latter slithering out. The parking lot was a dusty tan color with a thin layer of windblown sand breezing over, and there wasn't too much in the way of exciting scenery in any direction except the large, black building in front of them. The building was only one floor, but easily a good 60 feet wide.

"We're meeting that friend of mine about your Mosin rifle. Another Monster like us owns this place, lucky for him he can pose as a human pretty well. So, I had my friend meet us out here and show it off. Let's just use the side entrance, it'll take us right to a private range sectioned off from the rest of the building." Evalyn explained, slithering over fast to avoid being seen. While Manako had to just keep her head down, the only way Evalyn was not going to raise red flags is if she were in the middle of a desert, at which point _maybe _people would think she's a mirage. Finding the door had a keypad lock on the handle, Evalyn punched in a four-digit code and opened it, leading the way into a walled-off piece of the range. The area was technically outdoors, just walled-in with no windows for privacy's sake. Not having to wait long, soon came someone with a messenger bag slung over their shoulder wearing a hooded red and gold track jacket, red and white track pants, and a white undershirt. Underneath the raised hood was a tightly-pulled beanie, sunglasses, and a blank bandana over his face. Hurrying in the door and setting the rifle down, followed by the messenger bag, he went about undoing his disguise. Throwing the hood back and pulling the beanie off, the reason for wearing it became _quite_ obvious.

"Alright, here's the rifle, and I've got some ammo in the bag. I tried it just the other day, seems to work just fine." The now quite-obviously Kobold friend of Evalyn explained, the main tip-offs not only being the semi dog-like ears protruding off of his head, but also his large hands that seemed like a bizarre mix of human and dog. He had five digits like a human, including a thumb, but the palm of his hand and the inside of each finger had leather-like padding just like a normal dog. As it goes without saying, it would probably be somewhat difficult for him to fit his finger inside the trigger guards on most weapons, let alone properly use them. Taking the bandana and sunglasses off too, it was obviously more to make it through the front door rather than trying to be secretive against Manako.

"So, how much do you want for it?" Evalyn asked as Manako took the gun, pulling the bolt back as she prepared to load it. Luckily for her, it came with no scope, just as she liked it.

"Nothing, really. I got it for free off of an arms dealer, and I can't exactly walk into a pawn shop with it without looking incredibly suspicious, so I say go ahead and take it." The Kobold explained, watching as Manako steadied the weapon, landing a pinpoint headshot on a human-shaped target sheet at 40 feet.

"An arms dealer gave you a gun for free?" Evalyn repeated, finding the story odd at best.

"Well, not really _gave….._it's that one who shafted Saleen out of that crate of Saiga-12s she ordered. She asked me to go kill him and take all the product he had, so me and Melik went and took him out. I saw this hanging up on one of his walls and decided to take it for myself, not like anybody in the gang would really use it. Well, except for your friend." The Kobold clarified, his face now readily visible. His hair and eyes were a dark brown color, with the fine layer of fur on his body being a light tan/cream-type color.

"I like it…while I'll admit I'm not as excited about staying here as Zombina is, this'll certainly be nice to have in the meantime. The name's Manako, by the way." Manako greeted, swapping the rifle to her left hand after she made sure it was clear so she could offer to shake the Kobold's hand. Admittedly, she was only being so outgoing because, much like the rest of the Monsters she'd met here, they looked her in the eye.

"The name's Silver. I'm technically part of the gang, but Aderyn hasn't really had enough active use for me to let me stay at the Venue or anything." Silver explained, returning the handshake.

"That…..might actually change." Evalyn countered in a semi-surprised 'Oh…wow' kind of tone, having checked her phone. "Apparently Aderyn's got someplace for us to be in about two days, says we're robbing three armored trucks belonging to the Snakes. She also specifically asked me to have you come along."

"That's different….and since when did the Snakes get armored trucks?" Silver pointed out, never having learned of this. There were quite a few crazy things one could get if they dive deep enough into the criminal underworld without drowning, but armored trucks was certainly a new one for him.

"Maybe we'll find out when we get to them. For now, Manako: Think you'll keep the rifle?" Evalyn asked, getting a small nod back from Manako as the latter had gone back to firing it downrange some more. With the deal technically settled, Silver got his disguise back together before waving a goodbye, leaving Manako to her new rifle.

_Two days later, at the highway ambush point…_

"Alright, so: The trucks themselves are going to be moving in single file with an escort in front and another in back. All we need's the trucks themselves, if any escorts fall down with them, just kill the poor bastards and do what you want with their vehicles. According to my inside-man who gave us all this info, they like to run their convoys with all three trucks practically bumper to bumper, so I plotted out the measurements and gave them to Dania, who should be setting the explosives as we speak. Is our watch up top in place?" Saleen asked, currently on a phone call with Aderyn, the latter of which had her phone on speaker so everyone could hear. While Saleen was off in her warehouse, Aderyn and pretty much every Monster member of the gang Zom had met up to this point except Saleen were hidden off to the side in a decrepit parking lot. In addition to that, there were also 3 normal humans with them, two of which were carrying AKM rifles while the third had a full-size Mossberg 500 shotgun. Up on the side of the highway itself was a fourth, unarmed human member of the gang, who was serving as lookout for when the armored trucks passed into position. Having come here in three matching black Ram trucks, they were waiting on the far edge of the parking area in anticipation.

Presently, they were all huddled around in a circle, hidden behind one of the three trucks to stay out of sight. For guns, in addition to what the humans were carrying, Zom had the same AKMS rifle she took for the bank robbery, Aderyn was back to her sawed-off 590 rather than the 500 she used during the bank job, and Manako was using her brand new Mosin Nagant 91/30. Melik, much like Zom, stuck to what he knew and brought his UMP40, while Katalie changed things up by bringing a heavily-modified Saiga-12, which was outfitted with a 30-round drum mag, foregrip, and a 4" breacher on the front. Since it was loaded up with 12-gauge buckshot and meant to be a close-range bulldozer, she didn't put any sort of aftermarket sight on it. Finally, Evalyn was carrying an FAL 50.62 rifle with the stock folded, while Silver used the Famas-G2, no doubt because, unlike the F1 model, the G2 had a big enough trigger guard to fit even a single finger inside it.

"Since when did your gang have human members?" Zom inquired, making sure her AKMS was set and ready while the black-haired Harpy, Dania, flew up to the underside of the highway, clinging to it with her talons. Slung over her shoulder was a black messenger bag, the contents inside being the shaped charges that would give these trucks an express elevator to the ground floor.

"It's always had humans, just not too many. My boyfriend laid out a strict policy about accepting Monsters, so he put all of us in relatively high positions like lieutenants, field leaders, things like that. Pretty much everything we've done so far was too small-scale to need any further help, but I figure the more hands the better on this one. We'd probably have more members if most of the United States weren't so xenophobic, honestly." Aderyn admitted, thankful that at least some people here saw them as equals. While they didn't seem to have an insignia of any kind, their attire was relatively uniform, with all three possessing either dark brown or black leather jackets, either black cargo or grey camo pants, black boots, and leather gloves. For the face, all three chose to wear a bandana to cover it, with the design seemingly being personal preference, as well as Evalyn's sunglasses/backwards hat combo. "Hey Dania, how's it coming with the explosives?"

"Pretty good, just don't make any bird-brain cracks and I promise I won't leave a charge out or anything '_on accident_'." Dania warned, obviously disliking any and all forms of bird-brain jokes. Still clinging to the underside of the highway, she went about crawling along, equidistantly placing what looked like a small rectangular object with a small metal piece and some wiring attached to it, pushing it firm against the highway's underside to make it stick. Setting the charges in a long rectangular pattern, it was obvious that the timing would need to be _just_ right for this.

"I take it she gets those quite often?" Manako wondered, finding this Dania didn't quite talk like most Harpies. Having a small messenger bag of her own, Manako's was filled with loose 7.62 bullets. It may have presented the tedious task of needing to hand-load her new Mosin rifle, but the quality of the rounds she'd be firing was worth it.

"Yeah…..according to her, her dad was some really smart-ass human. Not the next Albert Einstein or something of the sort, but brighter than your average bulb. So, having his genes kinda…._alleviated _some of the usual challenges Harpies face. She doesn't forget things every three steps or so and talks like a normal person, but just don't expect her to go unraveling a grand plot or anything like that. She isn't worth shit in figuring out complex mysteries, but for simple go here, do this kinda work? She's actually pretty good." Aderyn elaborated, her sawed-off Mossberg 590 laid across her lap as they waited.

"Alright, the last of the explosives are set. I'll be waiting nearby if you need me for some reason." Dania informed, kicking off the highway and twisting 180 degrees to be upright as she flew off. On her way out, she swooped low over Aderyn's position, letting the detonator she had clutched in one of her feet go for Aderyn to catch.

"Explosives are set? Good. Just remember: Wait until everyone gets out before you make yourselves known. If the drivers see you coming before they get out, there's nothing keeping them from just driving off. Couple that with windows that are at _least _bullet-_resistant_, and it's going to be one serious problem trying to stop them. Also, it goes without saying, but try not to damage the trucks too much. They may be heavily armored and nigh-impossible to wreck with just a few small arms, but an armored truck full of holes will be incredibly hard to look nonchalant in. That especially goes for whichever one we're taking to the Snakes warehouse. If they all get shot up bad, then just pick the one with the least holes in it and say you had a run-in with another gang on the way over." Saleen directed, finally hanging up once she'd gotten all her instructions out.

"Get ready, trucks are coming!" The watchman up top alerted, seeing the convoy. "Hit it in three….two…..one…now!"

Hitting the detonator on cue, the explosives went to work blasting a rectangular chunk of highway free from the rest of it, three white and green armored trucks riding the chunk down with a hard crash. The dust settling, the ambush crew waited and watched as the guards began to get out, followed by the drivers.

"The fuck was _that?!_ One second we're drivin' along and next thing we're down here?" One of the drivers, talking with a very Brooklyn-style accent, asked as he stepped around the front of his armored car. Foolishly closing his door behind him, he had no idea what was coming as the other drivers mimicked the action. All getting out to inspect what had happened, they were all none-the-wiser at the ambush team's presence.

"I dunno man, I saw the same thing you did. If I had to guess based on the hole, it was probably explosives, so let's be a bit careful." One of the guards warned, followed by rolling his eyes when the driver responded with saying he needed to 'calm my nerves a bit' before he could drive again.

"Alright, looks like everyone's out. Manako, pick one of the drivers and get him in the leg, we need one of their outfits that isn't too stained in blood for Melik to wear when he drives the truck to the Snakes warehouse. Just needs to be clean from the waist up, so everyone else: make note of which one she shoots and leave that guy out of it. Melik, when we get up there, you break the guy's neck when you get a second. Past that we just need to kill everyone and don't shoot the trucks too much." Aderyn guided, keeping her head down to avoid being spotted prematurely. Inching around the back of one of their trucks, Manako slowly peeked out, setting her sights on the Brooklyn-accented driver they'd heard conversing just a moment ago. Aiming for the leg, Manako fired a round right into his left shin, causing the man to hit the floor almost immediately. Not wanting to give any room for retaliation, the rest of the ambush crew emerged from behind their trucks, Manako putting a round through a guard's head while the rest advanced.

"What's the matter bitch-boy?! _Scared?_" Katalie laughed, her coat causing the guard's MP5 rounds to harmlessly bounce off as she got him by the throat with her left hand. Hurling him into the hood of an armored truck, the man almost bounced off, landing face-first on the ground as he tried to get back up. Stepping on his back, Katalie pushed the man flat against the floor before lifting her foot up, only to slam it back down again with the intention of breaking his spine. One of the drivers running right into her as he tried to flee, he didn't make it far either, only making it away from the trucks so his blood didn't repaint it as he was gunned down. Back around the other side, the two Zombies had led the advance, pushing up on the remaining guards and killing the last driver. The last one trying to put up a fight as Aderyn came around the corner of the back-most truck, this guard got it no easier as Aderyn slammed the bottom of her shotgun's grip into the side of his head. Stumbling off the chunk of highway the trucks were situated on, Aderyn dropped off it too and dropped her shotgun, mounting the man while he was on his back to deliver a few words.

"If you think, even for a second, that I'm going to let you two-bit shitheads get any leeway, you're _dead_ wrong. You want to kill my boyfriend? That's fine, so long as you don't mind watching your _entire. God. Damn. Network. Fall to pieces._ I would send you on to deliver a message, but that's about _three_ steps above how kind I'm willing to be right now." Aderyn whispered not 5 inches from the guard's face, her hands tightly wrapped around his throat during her entire statement. Not having a knife or anything to deal with him, Aderyn instead pulled back, lifting the man's head off the floor as she continued to bear down on his neck. The pressure getting too great, the rest of the ambush crew watched in tense silence as the guard's neck made a sickening crack noise, Aderyn no doubt having crushed or broken something in the process. Dropping his body, Aderyn reclaimed her shotgun before standing back up, seeing that Melik had already copied the wounded driver's appearance and attire. Since he could mimic the driver's outfit, said driver was very unceremoniously pistol-executed due to his newfound lack of use.

"So uh….on with the trucks?" One of the human gang members suggested, mostly trying to provide a distraction from Aderyn's obvious emotions.

"Right…Saleen said the trucks have a magnetic lock, so getting Katalie to just pry them open would leave us standing here all day. Get in the trucks and look for a button anywhere, some kind of a release switch for the back doors. We'll also probably need to get the keys off of the drivers, I doubt they left them in the ignition." Aderyn took a deep breath, closing her eyes while doing so as she seemed to make an active attempt at leveling out. Immediately scattering almost out of fear for inciting Aderyn's temper, the group split up between the three trucks.

"Let's see…not exactly finding a big red button that says 'Mag-Lock' anywhere." One of the human gang members satirically noted, standing on the edge of the driver-side doorframe and leaning in to check odd places like under the steering wheel.

"Probably because it's a little grey button that says 'Door Release'." Katalie countered, her stature allowing her to lean in the passenger-side door without even standing on the door frame. Accidentally bumping his head on the steering wheel as he pulled back to see, the gang member would soon find out Katalie's statement wasn't a joke.

"Hah hah, very fucking fun-…oh." The gang member noted, starting to make a satirical comeback until he saw that was really the case. Right in the center area of the dash, just above the radio, was a small grey button that read 'Door Release', accompanied by a small LED light to indicate if it was active or not. Hitting the button, the doors in the back were now easily openable, revealing a spacious interior stacked high with large, wooden shipping crates.

"Alright, good. Now we just need to get this stuff out of the truck and into our trucks. If we can't fit all of it, we'll phone in more help and the Ram drivers just wait here until they arrive. As for the other two trucks: Manako and uh…." Aderyn started to direct, making a bit of a gesture at one of the human gang members. They may be a small gang, but there were still too many members for Aderyn to have met and memorized everyone's names, so she was mostly gesturing for him to fill in his name for her.

"Ray, Ray Bowman." The gang member, evidently named Ray, answered for her.

"Right: Manako and Ray, you two drive the other two armored trucks back to the Venue; me, Zom and Melik are taking the third one to the Snakes warehouse once it's unloaded. Katalie and Evalyn…..uh….this is a tough one. Might not be enough room in the Rams for you two once we get all the crates in, want to maybe wait here for a ride?" Aderyn suggested, not really having a better idea on what to do with a Lamia and an Ogre, especially since they couldn't exactly ride the bus home.

"Or we could just come with you." Katalie suggested, sliding out one of the crates and carrying it on her shoulder to one of their trucks. All three of the humans, as well as Zom and Silver helping as well, they were making steady progress in unloading the armored truck.

"Yeah, could probably fit you two, Evalyn, me and even Silver in the back. Wouldn't exactly be a comfortable fit, but it'd be even more backup for attacking that warehouse." Katalie reasoned, having to move on to the second truck as they continued to unload more crates.

"That _is _a valid point…..but Katalie, you go in front. I'd rather have you closest to the doors with that Saiga just in case there's a few guards waiting for us." Aderyn pointed out, knowing Katalie had arguably the best single piece of firepower among the group right now. With the armored truck empty, Melik got in the driver's seat as Evalyn slithered into the back. Curling her serpentine half up in a pile at the very back of the truck's back-end, then followed Silver and both Zombies, finished with Katalie sitting down on the armored truck's floor closest to the doors. Basically sitting upright with her knees bent at a 45 degree angle and both legs out in front of her, Katalie was in a perfect position to….._greet_….any Snakes that open it. With the Ram trucks loaded up, Manako closed the back doors on their Trojan Horse before giving Melik a thumbs-up to signal he was clear, the latter driving off the dropped highway chunk as Manako walked back to her truck. "Hey Saleen, we got the trucks. See if you can get a ride to the Venue, I'd rather have someone like you inspecting whatever we just got off the Snakes so we have an expert opinion on if it's worth more in monetary value or personal use."

"Sounds good, I should be there by the time the trucks arrive." Saleen agreed, their brief phone call coming to an end. Turning right around and calling Melik, she was curious on an ETA. "Any kind of a GPS system telling you how far we've got to go?"

"Yeah, says we've only got about 5 minutes until we hit our destination. If those back doors open, know that I won't be the one opening them, so fire away if you see anybody." Melik answered, making sure his UMP40 was hidden from outside view in the passenger seat. If things became an issue, he always had his P2000 in his pocket.

"So, what's the plan once we get to the warehouse?" Evalyn asked, feeling that one last, good rundown wouldn't be a bad idea.

"We wait until we're in, then we kill every man or woman aiming a gun at us that's in there. If we see any innocent workers running for their lives, let them go. Of course, if one decides to get ballsy and grabs a gun, he's asking for it. Aside from that, once everyone's dead or running, we call up Saleen again and get her to send some trucks our way. It could take all night, but we're going to empty that warehouse. Keeping the place for ourselves would be a bad idea once word spreads that it got hit, but no shame in giving their reinforcements nothing to find but dust and dirt when they turn up." Aderyn explained, wanting to lay the largest possible amount of hurt on without getting stupid about it.

_A short while later…._

Having taken longer than anticipated due to the blasted-out chunk of highway, they eventually reached their destination, pulling up to a large warehouse with an electric fence surrounding its perimeter. Getting the all-clear to come in, Melik diligently followed the direction of an armed guard, backing the truck up against one of the warehouse's large garage doors.

"Have any problems getting over here?" The guard asked, noticing a few bullet holes in the side of the truck.

"Yeah, some crew blew the highway and ambushed us. Not sure what happened to the other two cars, with our escort gone I just booked it with all sights set on getting here." Melik answered, imitating both the dead driver's appearance and even his voice, right down to the Brooklyn-style accent. Hitting the door release, Melik made sure to have alerted his passengers in the back via text beforehand, ensuring they were ready. Getting out of the truck, Melik followed behind the guard, just waiting for things to kick off. Hearing a series of loud bangs indicative of a Saiga-12, this immediately startled the guard.

The hell's going-" The guard started to exclaim, being stopped when Melik closed the gap from behind, wrenching the guard's head 90 degrees backwards like a human pez dispenser. With another guard standing around outside too, Melik dropped this one with a shot from his P2000, the guard only just having realized something was wrong a moment before death. Going back for his fedora and UMP40, Melik also lost the disguise, his outfit reverting to his black 2-piece suit while his face became a blank white template. Slinking up through the gap between the armored truck and the garage door's frame, Melik found a trio of messily-eliminated guards, everyone having taken cover just a ways up behind some boxes.

Seeing someone trying to sneak up on the left, Evalyn ducked to avoid any gunfire as she moved closer, snatching the man in question by the ankles with her tail. Hoisting him upside down, this was merely a set-up to be executed as she put three rounds from her FAL in his chest, followed by hurling his body towards his allies.

"You think this is just an in-between for someplace else? Because their guns are kinda…depressing." Zom pointed out, having been expecting AKs and LMGs, only to instead find guards carrying MP5s with basic ballistic vests. The rest of their attire was far too gang-like to possibly be a private security force, so why they went in that direction with their guns was moderately strange. Figuring they might be _expecting _a bunch of rag-tag gangbangers trying to sideways-aim 9mm Glocks at them, that was the only logical conclusion she could come to on the matter. Further perpetuating how oddly unprepared they were was the fact that the guards' ballistic vests only seemed like they could stop pistol rounds, as her AKMS went right through them with little issue.

"Either that or they keep their guns and ammo in separate crates and don't want to play hot potato tossing mags of live ammo around a live-fire zone to whoever got lucky enough to find the gun it goes to. On top of that, these crates don't exactly seem like they're labeled, so what good's it going to do them if they crack open a crate full of coke bags? Throw it at us and hope we get so hopelessly addicted that we stop shooting?" Aderyn joked, pointing out just how crappy the Snakes' options were due to the surprise attack. Even still, they seemed to have one very good card up their sleeve.

"Oh, what the hell is _this?_" Zom exclaimed as two 10' bipeds, one male and one female, walked out. They were dressed in the same leather-looking black coat as what Katalie had, with the same pants and boots, only instead of a skull-mouth bandana to hide the face, they both had what looked to be a black ballistic face mask. The female had a hole in the forehead of the mask with an Ogre's horn protruding through, while the male, despite having the same hole, had a jagged stump instead of a horn. For armaments, the man took a page out of Katalie's book, with a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder that fed belts of ammo into a Browning M1919A4, the likes of which he flippantly carried around like it was a simple firearm. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the female Ogre had a long sword sheath strapped to her back, which was intended to hold the incredibly large Odachi sword she was dragging along the floor with her right hand.

"So….what do we want to do about the Bruiser Twins? There's way too many guards left to just ignore them until everyone else is dead." Katalie advised, stalling the female Ogre's advance with the pure force of her Saiga's shells impacting the Ogre's coat. Meanwhile, the male Ogre stayed just in front of the Snakes' defensive line, providing suppressing fire with his Browning.

"Maybe do some divide and conquer-type stuff here? Looks like the female one'll come to us, but the hell are we going to do about the dude?" Aderyn suggested, having to practically lay down to avoid the Browning's rounds punching through their cover.

"I'll deal with him, you guys just make sure she doesn't come and stab me in the back." Katalie settled, standing up and keeping her fire on the female Ogre. Deciding to keep said Ogre preoccupied long enough for her allies to get a plan together, Katalie got uncomfortably close. Batting the Ogre across the side of the head with her Saiga's stock, Katalie followed this up with a kick to the stomach, knocking the female Ogre on her back. With that done, Katalie moved on to her actual target while the rest of them got a plan together.

"Let's see…..uh…..oh! Up there! There's a catwalk system up above us. If I can get up there, I can probably drop down on her and keep her distracted while you guys find a way around that coat." Silver suggested, already seeing a staircase to get up there. Running for it, Silver nearly got a few inches shaved off his back as the Ogre got back up, trying to take an upward swing at him as he passed by. Not too keen on following him up the stairs, the Ogre instead turned her attention back to the rest of the group. Slamming the sword down with both hands, the blade noticeably cut into one of the reinforced wooden crates they were using for cover, only to be pulled right out with relatively little resistance. Twirling the blade in her right hand, the Ogre gripped it with both hands once more as she went for a horizontal swing, forcing Aderyn to jump backwards to avoid being hit. Then trying a vertical slash, the Ogre was interrupted when something hit her on the back of the head. Not realizing it was, in fact, a dead body from a guard Silver had killed up on the catwalks, it left her confused and still long enough for him to freefall down. Dropping his Famas in the process, Silver barely got hold of the Ogre's horn with his left hand, pulling himself up to then grab it with both hands. Yanking backwards on the horn, Silver was almost able to steer the Ogre, her sword swinging wildly as she stumbled around.

With the Ogre reaching up to try and pull him off, Silver pulled even harder, almost causing the Ogre to trip backwards as she stumbled against another wooden crate. Seeing an opportunity to subvert the Ogre's coat, Aderyn took note of the fact that it was technically open in the front, just with very good leg protection if she took it slow. Firing her Mossberg at the Ogre's shins, Aderyn managed to clip a few of the pellets past the Ogre's coat, striking her actual shin beneath it. With the others providing cover fire against the remaining guards, Aderyn was able to fire again, further wounding the Ogre's shin and making her drop to her knees. Still being distracted by the pesky Kobold on her back, the Ogre wasn't looking in the right place when Aderyn grabbed hold of the overlapping side of her coat and pulled on it. Pulling the coat open thanks to its flimsy buttons, the Ogre was done for as Aderyn fired another blast, this one at the Ogre's now-exposed stomach. Not being anywhere near as bulletproof without the coat, the blast forced the Ogre onto her back, ceasing to move as a strongly dismayed Silver was stuck under her.

Meanwhile, Katalie was in a relative standoff with her target, waiting for the Ogre to finish expending one of his ammo belts as he unloaded on where she was hiding. Ceasing his gunfire, Katalie could only assume it meant the Ogre's Browning had run dry as she stepped out. Not bothering to fire on him, Katalie instead shoulder-bashed against the Ogre, followed by striking the side of the Ogre's Browning with her foot. Knocking it at least out of the way, this left her in a better position to fight him, jamming her Saiga barrel-first at his neck. Doing so at a slightly upwards angle, Katalie kept the pressure on as the Ogre tried to move backwards, no doubt spurred by the breacher on the front of her shotgun. Not getting the chance, Katalie gave the gun a hard shove before pulling the trigger, the Ogre's hood bouncing upwards slightly before his whole body slacked up. Falling face-down with a slight spurt of blood around the edges of where his head landed, Katalie didn't dare see what kind of a mess was left under the hood. With both Ogres down, Katalie turned with a smile back to the remaining guards, whole-heartedly motivated to slam down on the trigger and walk forward at them.

Frantically trying to pull back amidst the hail of 12Gauge fire coming their way, the remaining guards were further cut down as Evalyn was surprisingly coming to the front, firing her FAL in precise, single-shot lovetaps to drop each guard individually. Some trying to hold their ground, the ones that Katalie and Evalyn didn't get were instead perforated by Zom's AKM or Aderyn's Mossberg, the entire group moving in a frenetic advance to push out the guards. Melik and Silver bringing up the rear, they made sure to finish off any wounded guards or catch any that might've been hiding off to the sides. The last of the visible guards narrowly avoiding Katalie's Saiga as he fled out a small door along the back wall, as far as they could tell, they were all alone now.

"Well, with that done, let's get to calling Saleen and-" Aderyn started to direct, stopping in surprise at what she'd laid her eyes on. "Hey, Silver, think Salazar would take an interest in a Snakes-owned car?"

"Yeah, probably…not much different from any other kind of car-theft. I thought you didn't care about stealing and selling cars though." Silver pointed out, not looking where Aderyn was looking as he checked around for more stragglers.

"Oh, I do now….." Aderyn said with a grin, having found a pristine, untouched black Rolls-Royce Phantom off to the side of the warehouse. No security measures to keep it from leaving, it was nothing but a big, beautiful chunk of money on wheels waiting to be made in Aderyn's eyes.

Author's Note

Not much to say here since, as before, not much traffic incoming so far. Only thing to really note is I have some assistance on this story now from a friend who'd rather go unnamed. Despite that, she whole-heartedly contributed the appearance, clothing choices, background, naming, everything for the Bruiser Twins, Saleen, Dania, and what little has been mentioned of Salazar so far, as well as quite a few other Monster characters that we basically have plotted out and ready to be used where we see fit in the story. The character of Silver, however, belongs to a different friend of mine, hence the white, red and gold color scheme that observant readers of multiple stories of mine might notice is also present in my Titanfall story on a character there. He gave absolutely everything relating to that character, including the name, so if the name of Silver seems weird, that's technically on him, not me. I just put down what he told me to put down in regards to that one. (Note the reason they aren't getting a Property Of credit is since they're technically collaborating with me on the story directly from my end instead of being a fan sending in an idea, only fans that I strictly know through communication on FF get a Property Of credit at the end of every chapter their idea's used in).

Hopefully this story's interesting enough for people to start reviewing again, not really sure what made it drop off in the first place. I will say now that it was my intention from the start for the reward money plot to fail, I just worded the description for the story the way I did so that it wasn't deathly obvious that such a thing would fail. With that said, I'm hoping the story looks less like a butchery of what you thought you were getting back at the beginning and more like it's just doing what it intended to do.


	8. Casino Crash

Chapter 8: Casino Crash

_A month later at a private warehouse, near Saleen's Hideout….._

Part of the same 'closed down' warehouse district as Saleen's hiding place, the Venue gang had another operation set up: A private chop shop/through-point to sell high-end luxury cars to any related illegal Car Rings that may be interested. It was more expensive for the Rings than simply stealing the vehicles, but as Salazar, the Monster in charge would say: 'You're paying to not have any GPS tracking or otherwise flustered and panicking rich kids or air-headed CEOs trying to track you down once you have it'. And to help further that business, in came Aderyn with their newest find. Having driven the long way around to get to the back of the warehouse, Aderyn was let past the electrified chainlink fence by an inconspicuously-dressed, Venue-affiliated guard before gently parking the new Rolls Royce. Surprisingly organized for what, on its surface, looked like a haphazard operation, there were a number of other cars neatly parked side-by-side in columns of two, just like a normal parking lot. Each of the cars covered with randomly colored, cheap tarps, it gave off the illusion that the cars underneath were pieces of junk, not luxury status symbols. Getting out, it wasn't long before Aderyn found herself greeted by the man in charge.

"Good to see you again Aderyn….hadn't heard much from you since the Boss died." Salazar greeted with his trademark Croatian accent, unusually quick to jump on greeting her. Standing 5'10", the large Dragonewt was broad-shouldered, yet not exceptionally muscular aside from on his currently-concealed wings. Dressed in black suit pants, Salazar took a different turn from the way Melik dressed, wearing an open, black blazer, as well as the top few buttons of his collared dress shirt being left undone, unlike Melik's buttoned-up 2-piece suit and tie look. To further this, whereas Melik wore black dress shoes for his suits, Salazar opted for black combat boots with the pants leg pulled over the majority of it, feeling it to be necessary in a job where the whole purpose was to bargain with criminals. As for his face, Salazar had pale skin and short, gelled back black hair, which almost seemed to be a trademark of less-than-legal businessmen. Typical of a Dragonewt, his face had a patch of black scales underneath each eye, his specifically extending to cover the edge of each cheek. Easy to mistake for sideburns at a distance, Salazar nonetheless had to cover them when operating his 'legal' gun shop business.

"Don't worry Sal, I'm doing decently enough. I'll admit, working with the new recruits has been…..more fun than I was expecting." Aderyn admitted, wrapping her left arm around Salazar's back as he turned to walk with her into the warehouse, the 6" height difference meaning Salazar hardly had to life his arm in order to pull her closer. Looking up at him, Aderyn could tell upon further inspection of his face that he seemed to be concerned, probably for her. As such, Aderyn forced forward a thought she otherwise wouldn't admit to having. "Speaking of them, I'm actually getting kinda fond of the other Zombie. Haven't liked another Monster that much since the last time I saw Olianna."

"Right, your old Zombie….'Cleaner' friend? The one over in Sweden?" Salazar asked for clarification, both of them knowing that his hesitation before saying Cleaner came from needing to find an appropriate term for an evidence-destroyer. Furthering his hesitation was a desire to not accidentally badmouth part of Aderyn's checkered romance-history. First someone she got split from because that person got on the wrong boat and went to Sweden, then someone who took her in and gave her a metaphorical family in America, only to get shot by an unknown assassin. Not contemplating on it, Salazar moved away once the two got inside the warehouse, over to a makeshift desk area.

"Yeah, only other Zombie I've met. I guess you could say I'm just easy to catch if you're technically already dead." Aderyn tried to laugh off, not entirely sure how she felt about it herself. Looking around, the chop shop looked far better than the indistinct, weathered, rusty warehouse building exterior that contained it. Smooth, reflective flooring, a coat of paint on the walls that wasn't over ten years old, actually up-to-date air conditioning systems, and hydraulic lifts for the cars they worked on. Most of the warehouse being an open space aside from the load-bearing columns, off to the far right side was a simple desk with a desktop computer on it. Being what counted as an 'office' for Salazar, it was here that he kept track of what cars he had on site, where they were located, and the long list of requests from potential buyers forwarded to him by Saleen, the requests ranging from whole cars to special parts. Just under the desk, pushed off to the far right end of the under-desk space, was a large combination-safe for storing the keys to the cars he kept on-site, as well as the money he received from successful buyers until someone else in the gang could come by and move it someplace safer. For this reason, Aderyn tossed the keys to the Rolls Royce in Salazar's direction, the Dragonewt only needing to hear the jingle of the keys as they began to fly. Not even looking at Aderyn, Salazar merely reached behind him and caught the keys before putting in the safe's combination, showing this was a well-oiled and commonly-conducted process.

"Oh, by the way, Saleen wanted me to wait on telling you until you got here, but she's got word on a few Monsters up in Nevada looking for some help. They've got some grand heist on a casino in Vegas planned, but they need some help to set it up. That and a better place to stay, so Saleen cut them a deal: We help them, they join us, and we all share the money." Salazar mentioned, holding off on delivering the true hook just to see if Aderyn would be disinterested.

"Vegas is at least a 22-hour drive from here, and that's going nonstop. What kind of casino are they trying to rob that's worth sticking our necks out that far for a couple strangers?" Aderyn pointed out, not quite saying no, but not convinced either. And so, in came Salazar's hook.

"Well, she thought you might be interested because it's one of the Snakes' primary stakes in Nevada. Rob them dry, and you're giving the Snakes here on the West Coast a giant black eye." Salazar elaborated, working hard to keep from smiling as he saw Aderyn's mind practically latch onto the word Snakes.

"In that case, they have a deal. When's the earliest we can leave?" Aderyn asked, looking ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"Saleen already had Silver go get a special box-truck for you all to ride in, should be here with it any minute if he's already gone and gotten everyone else. I'm not going, but Saleen already picked out a few friendly faces to go up there with you, might make it easier in the long run." Salazar explained as he sat down, obviously not going anywhere any time soon. Having retrieved a wooden, ornate box from one of the drawers in his desk, Salazar placed it on top of the desk, closer to Aderyn's side of it.

"Uh…..what's with the box?" Aderyn asked in confusion, not sure what the Dragonewt was planning. Not getting an answer just yet, she could tell by the look she was getting that she needed to just open it. Lifting the lid of the ornate, wooden box, she could see the contents inside were a pair of revolvers set into a fitted foam insert. The foam cut out neatly to fit both guns, she recognized one, but not the other.

"Saleen had it sent over earlier, it's from your boyfriend. She didn't say how long ago, but at some point he gave her this box and told her to, if he died, get his Mateba, put it in here, and give it to you as a post-mortem gift to remember him by. Since he didn't want to risk you losing it from, say, getting arrested or sacked by a rival crime group, he also left you a second revolver as a gift. The Mateba's for memories, the Rhino's for personal use." Salazar explained, Aderyn pulling her dead boyfriend's signature Mateba 2006M out of the foam insert. Not having any functional modifications, the custom aspect came from the aftermarket chrome plating on every aspect of the gun except for the grip, as well as most of the chrome save for the cylinder being ornately engraved with various designs. Putting it back, Aderyn turned her attention next to the other gun, a .357 Chiappa White Rhino 50DS revolver.

"Thanks…I figure keep the box with you for now, I'll come back and get it when this Vegas thing is over." Aderyn thanked, making sure the Chiappa wasn't at risk of going off before stuffing it in her right pants pocket. Hearing a loud truck horn blare outside, Aderyn turned and moved to look back out the door she entered through, spotting a large, long white box-truck reminiscent of a slightly scaled-down semi-truck in length, but with the cab directly connected to the storage area like a traditionally shorter box-truck. Visible in the driver's seat through the rolled-down window was Melik's blank, fedora-wearing head looking out at her, Manako visibly leaning forward in the passenger seat to look for Aderyn. At the back end of the truck, the back door was lifted, Katalie and Silver sitting on the step-region while Zom leaned against the back end of the truck, arms crossed patiently.

"Hey!" Zom called out with a smile, ceasing her arm-crossed lean when she spotted Aderyn. "I heard from Silver that the Americans have a saying: 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'. How about we make sure some cash being made in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas?"

_Noon the next day, Boulder City, Nevada…_

Having only made a few stops along the way for the sake of gas and swapping drivers, the group of Monsters had finally reached their destination, a distinctly non-glamorous depot building in the decrepit, average-at-best Boulder City, near Vegas. Being the one currently driving, Melik reached over to rub a sleeping Manako on the forehead to wake her up, the truck at a calm stop behind the depot in question.

"This is…..Vegas? People actually _want _to come here?" Manako questioned, blinking her eye a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating the unimpressive scenery. Seeing nothing but flat land and drab buildings, the most exciting thing around seemed to be the palm trees and whatever unpredictable antics a local homeless person or drug addict would be up to.

"Close, Boulder City. It's just south a little bit, but the part everyone's crazy for is the Vegas Strip, which is also where these people we're meeting want to rob. No real way to tell what's in store for us until we get that far, sadly." Melik explained, mostly hoping that this plan wouldn't be a bust. Easily catching that Manako wasn't exactly the fearless warrior her friend was, Melik lightly placed his hand on her shoulder to give a more encouraging statement. "But, on the bright side…if things _do _go sour, I've got your back. I would ask if you have mine, but you've already proven your skill with a long rifle, so I don't think _that _needs to be put into question."

"Speaking of questioning, I hope you don't mind me asking…where did you get your name from? Not your real one, I mean your fake one that you use to blend in with the police. No offense, but it just sounds kinda…odd." Manako inquired, his unusual fake-name having been nagging at her for a few days now. Sinking into his seat, a low, audible sigh from Melik made it blatantly obvious that this topic was awkward at best.

"Well, it's…..eugh…..quite the story. When I first got here, before I met Aderyn, I had that alternate look, but no name, so I just got by trying to disclose as little as possible. One day I was walking past a cafe, and I spotted the name Jack Rawson written in bold on the first page in a stack of papers some exec was looking at. I didn't know much about American names at the time, so I thought that was standard-fare, and decided to adopt it as my name. Fast-forward a few months, and I not only realize how ridiculous it sounded after getting to hear more 'normal' names, I also found out the name Jack Rawson was the title of an action movie. A very…._very _bad action movie. Even a 12 year-old's power-fantasy would've probably been written better. Problem is, I found all this out _after _registering all my info under that name to blend in better, and it's not really worth wasting the time and effort to change it, so I just take it as a learning experience. A very, _very_ embarrassing learning experience." Melik elaborated, his tone of voice still conveying his regret and embarrassment despite his completely featureless face. Not lingering on it, Manako let the matter drop as they turned their attention back to why they were here.

The two Monsters getting out of the truck cab, Melik went around back to raise the truck's back door, letting the rest of their group out. Disembarking one by one, the group of Monsters stuck close like a wary family as they walked back towards the front of the truck, their ire almost being drawn by a passing human.

"_One-eyed freak!_" A disheveled, dirty, scrappily-dressed man yelled from the nearby sidewalk as he hurled an empty whiskey bottle in their general direction, looking like he was aiming for Manako the most. Simply tossing the bottle like an irate flare-up before carrying on, the man was luckily spared from death.

"_Don't_. He's not worth the problems the cops would bring if they responded to a dead man on the sidewalk, even if he deserves it." Aderyn stopped, holding Zom's right arm as the latter tried to reach for the loaded Glock tucked behind her belt-line. Simmering down and realizing Aderyn's point, Zom let it go, albeit still visibly agitated at how much Manako has been getting picked out. Walking to the one door on this side of the depot building, the door was being lightly guarded by an average human, probably somewhere in his late-50's with greying hair and skin-wear typical of a smoker. Unarmed, he still looked like he was watching for someone, not just sitting here because he liked the view.

"You 6 wouldn't happen to be the Monsters that stupid Goat and her friend are looking for, are you?" The man asked with a condescending tone, sounding like he held Monsters in high contempt.

"_Goat?_ We were here looking for a Minotaur." Zom clarified, only to have Aderyn butt in again, this time for clarification purposes.

"Goat's used as a derogatory term for Minotaur Monsters around here, it's a jab at their legs. Kinda flips between Goat and Deer in terms of what people actually use." Aderyn clarified, whispering it into Zom's ear while the man standing around just glared at them.

"But…the thing from mythology that humans named them after was half human, half bull, not half goat or deer." Zom countered, finding the insult to be somewhat idiotic and poorly-conceived.

"Well, true, but what sounds worse? Calling someone a bull, or calling them a goat? It's a jab at devaluing their worth by calling them something relatively pathetic and, at least on the internet, comedic. Compare that to a deadly-ass bull, and it starts to make sense why they stretch it a bit." Aderyn elaborated, turning her next statement towards the man standing around. "Uh, yeah, we're here to see them. They'll be in there, right?"

"Yeah, just get the hell inside and do whatever it is you freaks are here for, those broads paid to use the place for the whole week. Just don't do anything that makes me look bad, and we won't have a problem." The man answered, opening the door before simply letting go as he walked off. Catching the door with his foot, Melik kept the thick metal door from slamming shut before reorienting himself to have his back against the indoor-side of the door. Keeping his right arm out in an 'after you' gesture, the faceless Monster held the door while the rest of the group walked in.

"_Real _charmer he was….." Melik commented with a sigh, painfully reminded that his respectful, high-class demeanor was far from the norm in a place like this. Not lingering on it, the group found the inside of the depot to be haphazardly stocked with large wooden crates, no real uniform placement or stacking height to them. Half-lit by aging, barely-reliable lightbulbs dangling from ugly black cable-mounted sockets, the inside of the depot sat in stark contrast to a place like Salazar's garage. Near the middle of the room was what, from this angle, looked like an imposter of Zom: A black bomber jacket with a decently-sized fur collar, black fingerless gloves, and green hair in a similar style to Zom's haircut, albeit this woman's hair was more of a shiny, chrome-like green rather than Zom's dull, dark green color. Despite that, the long, bull-like tail poking over the top of the woman's tan cargo shorts indicated she was probably the Minotaur that brought them out here, definitely not a Zombie. Currently sitting on one of the wooden crates, the Minotaur turned around upon hearing the door close, already sounding more welcoming than the man at the door.

"Hey, one of you Aderyn Derrow? Heard from your friend Saleen that you guys could help us with a Casino bust." The Minotaur asked with a noticeably Irish accent, making it hard to tell if her choice in hair color was true national pride or just a tacky attempt at a joke. With pale skin and emerald green eyes, the most noticeable feature of this Minotaur aside from her 6'6" stature was her lack of prominent horns, both being sawed down into short stumps barely visible behind her hair.

"Yeah, that would be me. We probably would've been here sooner, but our driver wouldn't keep his fake face on, so we got stopped by police about 6 times on account of social media blowing up over pictures of 'Dapper Slenderman driving a truck along the West Coast'. But, you are…..?" Aderyn asked in return, knowing she'd need to know these people on a first-name basis for this job to work.

"The name's Aileen Cassidy, and my friend here's Ailsa Calhoun. Don't ask how we've gotten this far, it's been….interesting, given neither of us exactly have 'normal' legs." Aileen introduced, her friend in question being a black and white Scylla. The top half of her head being a matte-black color, the lower half was bright white, this half-half contrast probably carrying on the rest of the way down with a predominantly white front and black back. Not able to see too much skin thanks to Ailsa's baggy hoody-sweater and long, loose skirt, this still did little to hide her 8 octopus-like legs, which were black on the back and white on the suction-side. Almost comedically, Ailsa's large, black, octopus-styled brain-sack hanging off the back of her head looked like a hood all its own, resting just above the actual hood she wasn't using.

"I doubt _legs _was the most complicating factor." Ailsa jabbed, her noticeable Scottish accent making it abundantly clear that, at least to some degree, they've been butting heads with each other as much as they did with the humans that picked on them. Shooting a glare at her 8-legged friend, Aileen obviously agreed regardless.

"Well, as much as I've wanted to turn you into fresh Calamari a few times, that's not why we're here." Aileen replied, putting a lot of emphasis on the large machete-sheath clipped to the left side of her belt-line as she stepped back from Aderyn's group. "What we _are _here for is to knock over a Casino, and before we can do that, we'll need the floorplans. Some generous humans went through and took some still images of the place for us, but it's all guesstimates and maybes, which won't work for a proper robbery. To remedy that, we tracked down the one in charge of the casino, a Dragonewt named Hana Murano. I know, seems a little odd for a gang like the Snakes to be putting a Monster in a serious place of power rather than just muscle, but we can make jokes about how literally or metaphorically under-the-table her methods to get there were later. For now, we know where she's at, what she looks like, and how we're probably getting in. One of us at least."

"_One_ of us?" Silver spoke up, having a distinct distaste for jobs where he was put in the spotlight on his own.

"Yeah, this Dragonewt's got a bit of a…_thing _for aspiring showgirls in town. Apparently she reels 'em in saying they'll get famous, has her fun, and just tosses them back on the street, no next-day phone calls or whatever. She's got the floorplans for the casino in her expensive estate-house over in Henderson that the Snakes gave her, so we're going to get them off her. If she sees us coming, she'll torch the floorplans, so most of us won't be doing anything with this step: We need someone who can pass as an aspiring showgirl to get in there, get real close with her, and get the floorplans. If you can, probably wouldn't hurt to off her while we're at it, just to up the pain we're causing the Snakes. There'll be guards, but if any of you are good with a sniper rifle, we can set someone up on one of the balconies in the nearby hotel to poke at them if things go bad." Aileen explained, making it abundantly clear that Silver would have 0 involvement here. "I personally can't do it because she's seen me around before, same with Ailsa."

"And anyone high up in the Snakes would recognize _me _of all people, same with Katalie. Melik could imitate a woman, but I don't really see him selling a showgirl act very well. Manako could probably pass off somewhat decently, but, no offense, I don't really think you'd be a good match against a Dragonewt if it comes down to fists and whatever's in reach." Aderyn added, severely shortening the possible options. And with that, all eyes turned on the only other Zombie present. In attempted retaliation, Zom had an incredibly weak, ill-fated argument to present.

"You sure we couldn't just doll up Silver and make him talk in a light voice?" Zom suggested, her faint, meek smile showing that she knew her suggestion and accompanying argument were invalid.

"You guys sort out how you're going to get Manako and her rifle on one of those balconies. In the meantime, I'm going to help Zom here get….'set' for her role in all this. See you later tonight." Aderyn said with a foreboding smile, waving at the rest of the group as she wrapped her right arm around Zom's shoulders, escorting the would-be showgirl away.

_Later that night, at Hana's private estate in Henderson, Nevada…_

"So you guys really expect _this _to work? I look more like a….what's the culture called? A Goss?" Zom confusedly asked as she tried to make her point, not knowing Goth was the word she meant. What _was _accurate about her point, however, was the change in attire Aderyn had oh-so-lovingly helped with. Getting to keep her boots, Zom was forced to trade her ankle-covering cargo pants for dark grey shorts that only went halfway down the thigh, and her bomber jacket and shirt were replaced by a black crop-top with a long-sleeve fishnet shirt underneath, the sleeves of the fishnet actually covering her palm with one long hole for her four main fingers, and a separate hole for just the thumb.

"Entertainers come from all cultures and walks of life. Sure you've got a set uniform you need to use _after _you get the job, but before that, it's free game in terms of what might walk in the door." Aderyn explained through an earpiece they'd given her beforehand, Aderyn and Manako being set up in a nearby hotel room with a balcony overlooking the estate. Looking like a 2-floor building, the estate was nonetheless expansive, the structure itself being quite wide across with even more room for a stone-brick trail circling the property, multiple palm trees, and even a four-car garage attached to the main structure. Fenced in by a tall, metal-bar fence and matching electronic gate, there was a single guard dressed in a 2-piece suit and tie set up behind the gate to serve as the doorman of sorts.

"You one of the showgirls here to see the boss?" The guard asked, openly carrying an unmodified MP5 as he tried to size Zom up through the gate. Not seeing any obvious signs of weaponry, all he needed now to let her in was a proper answer.

"Yeah, is Hana seeing anybody today? I heard it was kinda open-house with getting to see her, so am I good, or is today different?" Zom asked back, trying her hardest to look clueless and defenseless despite the fact that she could easily reach through the gate and strangle him if he got close. Not giving a reply, the man instead stepped back and spoke something into a small radio he had on him, the gate opening soon after. Taking it as a yes, Zom tried to keep the guise going as she walked up the stone-tiled driveway, able to spot the well-lit front door from just past the gate while she casually advanced on it. Getting to the door without coming across another guard, Zom gave the door a couple average knocks, not sure what was considered being too excessive with this person. Not getting a reply at first, Zom began to raise her hand for a second go when the door swung open, none other than her unusually-dressed target getting the door.

"What? Unlike most high-class landowners around here, I actually like _using_ my pool. Doesn't hurt that it's heated." Hana Murano, the Dragonewt owner of the estate joked in response to the moment of awkward silence when she first opened the door. Standing 5'11" with pale skin, Hana had asymmetrical dyed bright-white hair that curved just under her chin at the tip on the right side, the left being pulled back behind her ear. Not exceptionally large given her need to be aerodynamic, Hana's definitely-there-but-not-ridiculous muscle was clearly visible due to the Draco showing up at the door wearing a black 2-piece swimsuit with a matching black robe, the robe left wide open almost to show herself off a bit. "So, you're the new Showgirl that wants a job at my casino?"

"Yeah….did someone tell you about me in advance, or do you greet all of them like this?" Zom joked, still awkwardly trying to be as non-threatening as possible. While it was impossible to hide that she wasn't human, she could at least hide her long track record of both legal and illegal murder of fellow Monsters long enough to get those floorplans.

"Eh, only on some nights. Definitely speeds the process up though." Hana smiled, pulling Zom into the estate and closing the door behind them. Taking the much shorter Zombie under her arm, Hana effectively guided Zom through as they walked to the open living room area. Comprised of a trio of long couches placed in a staple-like orientation, there was a long table right in the center, along with small stands at each couch's corner. A massive flatscreen mounted on the far wall, opposite the middle couch, it was obvious that almost no expense was spared for this place. Giving it a more attentive look as they passed, Zom realized that half the wannabe-showgirls on the couches in question were actually Monsters, including some other Zombies, a Kobold, and even a Cyclops that looked strangely similar to Manako. Dismissing the odd similarity on account of this Cyclops' lack of timid, awkward behavior, Hana and Zom didn't stay for long as the larger Dragonewt escorted her up a staircase by the back wall. Leading up to the second floor, it was surprisingly open, with the 'bedroom' already being visible from the top of the stairs. With a balcony-like overhang looking down on the living area being to her right, Zom could tell privacy wasn't a big thing here.

"So….this is your bed? Right here in the open?" Zom asked as the Dragonewt let her go, trying to look like she was just admiring the place while she looked for the floorplans. Spotting a fully-stocked self-serve bar set into the right wall, Zom moved in closer, figuring the drawers just under the bartop itself were a decent place to start.

"Yeah, the guards don't really come up here much, and I'd like to think I've got a…close…..relationship with the people that stay here. The girls you saw down there actually live with me full-time, liked them too much to just pass them out for whoever walks into Vegas to enjoy. When you've got nothing to hide, why hide, am I right?" Hana explained, still none-the-wiser as she tried to make a move. With Zom standing at the self-serve bar, Hana moved in behind, wrapping her arms around Zom's midsection as said Zombie tried to think of a way out. Spotting a switchblade laying on the bartop, she decided to try things in the reverse-order: Kill Hana first, find floorplans later. Gently grabbing the knife, Zom made a sudden jerk as she turned around, switchblade in hand upside down in an attempt to stick Hana in the neck. The Dragonewt catching Zom's arm, Hana, using both hands, was able to twist Zom's arm back and jam the blade into Zom's own stomach. Letting off an inhuman snarl, Zom quite literally snapped, jabbing her head forward to sink her teeth into Hana's shoulder. Not getting too deep on account of having to bite through Hana's robe, the Zombie received a quick hook to the side of the head, dislodging her from the Draco's shoulder. Hana backing up a bit, the two Monsters had a tense moment of silence as Zom pulled herself back up to a proper standing position, pulling the switchblade out of her stomach.

Hana dropping her robe, Zom was on too much adrenaline to think about why as she ran forward, trying again to attack with the switchblade. The two engaging in a lopsided fists-VS-knife fight, most of the damage Hana suffered was negligible cuts and splits on her scale-plated arms from deflecting Zom's swings away from her abdomen and neck. Getting into a locked position of gripping each other's forearms to hold their opponent back, Hana arguably cheated as she turned, forcing Zom to turn with her and line them up with the overhanging balcony. Stretching her wings, Hana's larger stature made it easy for her to push Zom back, the Zombie having to step backwards to avoid falling as Hana got a running start. Jumping partway to the balcony, Hana carried the shorter Zombie off her feet and through the flimsy guard-railing, letting go after that to drop Zom on the long center-table below. Dropping the switchblade on the way down, Zom startled all the guests as she unceremoniously smashed the center of the table in with her back, Hana being strangely out of sight.

Slowly getting up, Zom's immortality obviously didn't do much for smashing on tables as she pushed one hand against her back, only remembering about Hana when she looked up, spotting the Dragonewt hanging off a chandelier above her. Jumping down for a dive-bomb, Hana missed as her target frenetically backed up, instead landing just in front of Zom. For lack of a better idea, Zom's first reaction was to turn to the nearby couch-side stand and snatch up the decorative vase on top of it. Turning around and belting the Dragonewt with the expensive vase, there wasn't even enough of it left for a second swing. Out of options again, things tipped back in Hana's favor as the Dragonewt grabbed Zom by the throat, hoisting her off her feet before turning and stepping up and over one of the couches, dragging Zom with her. Moving towards the glass panes separating the Estate's interior from the expansive pool area in the back, Hana used Zom to open the way, chucking the short Zombie through two of the rectangular glass panes in question. Finally getting the guards' attention, Zom kept herself from being shot by lining herself up with the advancing Hana, meaning that if one of the two poolside guards opened fire, they'd hit their boss too. Moving around the far side of the pool to apprehend her, the closer one, armed with a Jericho 941 Semi-Compact pistol, soon had his life ended as a loud bang erupted, Zom actually seeing a small muzzle flash from a high-up balcony in the nearby hotel.

Seizing the man's Jericho as he fell to the floor, Zom wasted no time in turning it on the other guard, armed with a basic .45 MAC-10 with a Sionics suppressor. Dropping him, Zom's attention was brought back to Hana as the Dragonewt failed a straight-punch. Zom having ducked under it, Hana blatantly overextended on the swing, still dizzy from the vase-smashing as she stumbled past her target. Her fist still pointing downwards as if she were locked in the end of her swing, Hana got it even worse as Zom, against her better judgement, decided to tackle the Dragonewt into the pool, dropping her Jericho pistol at the pool's edge. Hoping to drown her target, the water obviously wasn't a good place for Hana to fight as she went from angry to panicked, thrashing around in her attempts to break free. Pushing Zom off, Hana's first choice was to swim for the edge of the pool, completely disregarding the Zombie as she clambered back onto dry land. Not seeing Zom's Jericho pistol, Zom certainly did, swimming to the pool's edge and grabbing it before putting a round through Hana's left thigh.

Falling to the floor, Hana was a sitting duck as Zom pulled herself out of the pool, the Dragonewt rolling onto her back before getting mounted with a gun against her cheek.

"_Wait! _Don't shoot, _please!" _Hana pleaded, both hands clutching the front-end of Zom's new Jericho, which was currently pressed against Hana's cheek. Completely pinned by Zom being mounted on her stomach, the Dragonewt's options were even further limited by Zom's left hand loosely clutching Hana's neck.

"Tell me where those floorplans for the casino are, and _maybe _I'll think about it." Zom threatened, obviously not intending to let her live. To counter that, Hana was ready to make an offer.

"I'll top that: You kill that guard with the MP5 that's probably coming to shoot you as we speak, I'll not only give you the floorplans, I'll get you guys into the vault. No offense, but if you're a Zombie in town to rob the Snakes, I'd guess you're working with Aderyn Derrow. Only reason I'm with these assholes is I couldn't get down to Texas to join her, so I took the best opportunity I could. If Aderyn's reaching out past Texas, these clowns aren't going to be safe for long, especially if her boyfriend really did get killed. I help you, you take me and those girls you saw on your way in with you when you go back home. Deal?" Hana bargained, Zom's response being overshadowed and cut short by another loud bang. Both Monsters looking back towards the glass panes, a suited man wielding an MP5 was in the process of collapsing on his back, marking the second time Manako had saved Zom in this situation. Putting her Jericho on safe and putting it away, Zom phoned in to give an update, indirectly answering Hana's bargain question as well.

"Hey, Aderyn? Tell Manako not to shoot the Dragonewt, she's going to hand us the floorplans and get us into the vault itself. And, by the sound of it, she's a bit of a fan, so…..got any uses for a female Dragonewt and her harem back in Texas?" Zom asked, her meek attitude now coming from the fact that she, due to her own aggressive tactics, now needs to help a bleeding and probably still dizzy Dragonewt, and her accompanying harem, schlep past the inbound police investigation.

Author's Note

To start, the main thing I want to explain (Primarily for people who didn't know about this story when it was first added) is that the only "Source" I've used so far is the English-translated Manga chapters, and since I don't watch Anime (Not opposed, just never tried), it's still my only source of info for doing this story. As such, there might be some things that people who read/watch more sources than me know that I don't since, well, I'd assume the English-translated chapters are the furthest behind in terms of content. Speaking of the anime, there are small differences in the story that came about before we knew what most of the characters looked like in color (Like Zom's hair, which at the time of first saying it in-story was green because the best reference we had was a Deviantart Artist who winged it with coloring in an image of her), as well as Zom's jacket. Going off the black and white, I figured it was a traditional dark brown/black bomber jacket, but recently a friend of mine came across an image of her from the anime, and after seeing that…..I think I'm going to keep the visual/style differences that were already made. Usually I wouldn't nitpick over little artistic details such as this, but a difference like _that…._I'll pass on writing a character that dresses like a tomato, to put it loosely. Not like it's a very big concern though since, instead of trying to alter events inside the source material, this story just kinda…goes off in its own direction. Hopefully that didn't come off as very dickish or "This is what I'm going to do, so deal with it", because that's not the intention, just giving a bit of context to why some minuscule details are different.

Speaking of details, while I was proof-reading this chapter, I brought it up to my friends that I work on this with mid-edit, and they corrected me accidentally using Draco instead of Dragonewt. Going back to my limited "Intake" of the Source Material, it completely slipped off the back of my brain that Draco was the punny name of the one Dragonewt we've seen, not the species name. When said friends went and looked it up, they came across a dedicated wiki for all this that not only proved their point, but it also showed that there are a _hell _of a lot more sub-species of the species we personally knew about. By the time I'm writing this, the two of them already drew out a name, nationality, look, and style for a Large Arachne after finding out such a thing exists, so the reason I'm bringing this up is would anyone mind if we used those "Extra" sources as well? It's all on the same wiki, so I'm sure it all fits together, and with the way these two are with character design, there could probably be a ton of extra variety in the lineup within a short span of time if we use that too. As it stands I intend to use it, just gauging in advance if there'd be a severe negative reaction or not.


	9. Ghost Town Throwdown

Chapter 9: Ghost Town Throwdown

_Back at the rented-out warehouse, 5PM the next day….._

Despite nobody being terribly quick to trust her, providing the on-paper layout of the Casino and offering to get them into the vault assured Hana Murano's safety for the time being, even if she was still under suspicion. At least being given the courtesy to wear something more than just a swimsuit, it still wasn't an incredible amount in order to work with both her leg-bandages _and _her large back-sprouting wings. Just a pair of incredibly short jean-shorts and a black, loose tank top with a low back to it, it hid absolutely none of her distinguishing reptilian features, but to her, it was better than nothing. Currently sitting on one of the many large, rectangular wooden crates in the warehouse, Hana's 'imprisonment' was incredibly relaxed, lacking even a handcuffing around/to a pole or something of the sort. Instead, all she had was a metaphorical guard dog.

"Is the shotgun _really _necessary?" Hana asked in slight annoyance, referring to the Minotaur Aileen, who stood nearby with a loaded Ithaca 37. Not directly pointing it at the Dragonewt, the fact that Aileen kept herself faced towards Hana left them with the mutual understanding that, if Hana ran, she'd be thoroughly perforated before she gets out the door. Trying to figure out Aileen's mood by her facial expression, the best Hana could figure is that, despite the silently hostile circumstances, it was just a security measure and not based in any personal bias against her on Aileen's part. Standing up and leaning back against a stack of the same wooden crates, Aileen seemed more bored than directly hostile.

"Don't worry lass, it's just a peace-of-mind thing. You Dragonewts are usually pretty holier-than-thou, so you'll have to forgive us for not taking your head-over-heels submission in exchange for your life at face value, _oh great majesty._" Aileen explained, tacking on a sarcastic jab at the typical Dragonewt pompousness at the end. Sneering slightly, Hana decided, mostly for the sake of her own survival, to not snap back with the fact that lass was a Scottish term, not an Irish one. Finding the usage stupidly strange considering Aileen's otherwise flat-out Dublin accent, Hana let it go. After all, _she _wasn't the one with a shotgun in this scenario. Both Monsters hearing the one non-loading door into the warehouse open up, it thankfully marked the return of the Venue Gang members that had been sent out here, which permitted them to carry on with the next step in this Casino plan.

"Just as you asked, we got the girls of yours on a trip straight back to our main place down in Texas, thankfully Saleen found someone local willing to help. Now that we've done our part, it's on _you _to decide what happens to both you _and _them. Follow through and help us, you and them can stay with and work for us. Try to cross us, and they die one by one. Hopefully you can work with that…." Aderyn informed, at the front of the group coming into the building. Speaking directly to Hana, the Zombie suspiciously left out what she'd do to Hana directly as she lightly smiled at the Dragonewt. Possibly because of the razor-sharp teeth, Hana found the smile exceptionally unsettling.

"And what about me? You going to make me watch it or something?" Hana asked in a tone that, while defensive, didn't sound too prideful in order to avoid causing any unnecessary deaths. Aderyn keeping the smile going, Hana could tell that she was not only wrong, she was probably going to hate this possible outcome _more _than just an execution. Drawing a switchblade she had on her, Aderyn toyed with the blade on the tip of her left pointer finger, not actually cutting herself, but still causing a small cut in her glove to silently hint at how sharp it was.

"For you? Well….I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a pair of Dragonewt wings mounted on my wall back home. You wouldn't mind if I took yours with this lil' switchblade, would you? I'd even let you walk away afterwards, assuming the pain doesn't kill you." Aderyn smiled further, having learned a bit from Zom that gleeful psychopath tactics usually worked better than straight anger and yelling. Seemingly working, Hana's face got somewhat bleak as she could almost feel the slow, agonizing pain of that dinky little blade taking her wings off. Folding the blade in and putting the knife away, Aderyn did another 180 back to friendly, leaving Hana even _more _unsure of what attitude to use here. "But, of course, that's just if you betray us. If you don't, I'll just find some _other _Dragonewt for it, ideally an _actual _Snakes scumbag. If you've got any rivals in the Snakes that happen to be Dragonewts, I figure you could point us in their direction and we'll both win, no?"

"You've been hanging around her _way _too much." Manako lowly said to Zom, their position closer to the back of the group making it a bit harder for Aderyn to hear. Taking it as a compliment, Zom, now with her cargo pants and bomber jacket back, could only give Manako a silent, cheeky pat on the back to say _Damn right I have_. Moving up in the group, Zom decided to keep things moving forward, even if she was enjoying watching Aderyn act controlled-crazy. Being Aileen was one of the two coordinators of this whole thing, the Minotaur passed her Ithaca 37 over to Katalie, entrusting the Ogre with watching their winged hostage/accomplice in-case she ran. Moving over to Hana, Katalie lightly grabbed the Dragonewt by the back of her neck, directing the Monster to follow as they walked a short distance towards the planning 'table'. Table being a loose term in reference to another wooden crate with the floorplans laid on top since they were, as Aileen would put it, 'Poorer than a polecat on a barstool'. Whatever that meant, nobody but Aileen even remotely knew.

"So, now that we've got the floorplans, the _original _plan called next for either some military-grade explosives or thermite to either melt through the vault door or blow it into next year. Now that we've got Hana though, assuming she holds up her end, we've got the vault door covered explosion-free. We're still gettin' the explosives though." Aileen oddly explained, sitting down in front of the wooden crate they had laid Hana's floorplans out on. Sitting down in a dinky, simple rolling office-chair they found, the chair made a suspicious cracking noise as the 6'6" woman sat down in it, giving her a cross expression immediately. Assuming right out the door that she broke the chair, Aileen sighed before simply rolling with it, carrying on with her point. "Ailsa, care to tell our friends why we want the explosives anyway?"

"Well, after some thought, as well as hearing from Hana that the casino has to put up with vandals fairly often, we're using the explosives to mask our intentions a little bit. The place has plenty of statues inside, _big _statues. Statues that cost a _lot _of money to build, and just as much to replace if they were, say, lumberjack'd over by some well-placed bombs at the base of each one. We blow the statues up and generally trash the place excessively, as well as close the vault door after we empty it and snag the security footage, and the Snakes will probably think at first that it's just some _really _pissed vandals. Obviously they'll figure it out eventually, but by the time they realize the money's gone, we'll be at least halfway to Texas, so it'll be _much _harder for them to get a quick, accurate response out. Personally, I figure the bigger and crazier a mess we make, the longer they'll assume it's just a bunch of vandals and not a real robbery. Any questions?" Ailsa clarified, crawling/slithering/however a Scylla's movement would be described over to Aileen's side of the 'table' before gesturing with her right pointer-finger to each of the primary statues in the casino.

"Yeah, a really big one: How and where do you expect to get _military_ _grade_ explosives? Steal from the Snakes? After all, that's how _we _get anything cooler than an antique hand-grenade." Silver asked, bringing to light the metaphorical elephant in the room. Being a valid question since none of them were arms-dealers, nor has Saleen secured any dealers for illegal explosive devices, Aileen thankfully had an answer as she rolled up the floorplans, bringing attention to the map of Nevada underneath it.

"Simple: We steal from privatized military. There's a small base belonging to the PMC Brightwater here in Nevada, over in that ghost-town Rhyolite up near Beatty. It's not a big place, just some little storage and barracks-type spot where they train recruits and store their stuff, so the opposition shouldn't be _too_ great. To boot, they'd probably have enough explosives to level the whole damn _building _if we tried, so a few statues will be _no _problem. For the sake of portability, we're going for planted explosives, not launchers, which ups our chances of finding what we want even more." Aileen explained, her end-point being in reference to the fact that Brightwater could easily have plenty of remote-detonated explosives for demolition purposes.

"I dunno….nothing would scream _'Merica!' _quite like tearing down a condemned building with a volley of RPGs and 40mm grenades from an adjacent rooftop." Zom joked, still somewhat miffed about the intense, somewhat xenophobic bravado in this country. Not turning it into a rant, Zom instead just put her comment in before letting Aileen take over again. Regardless, the smile she got out of the Minotaur indicated they'd probably become fast-friends in the near future.

"This country hasn't gotten _that _crazy yet….for now, we just need the explosives, then we can hit the casino. I already went over the other little stuff we'll need with Aderyn earlier, so your friend Saleen's gonna have all that shipped out here while we're dealin' with these PMC guys. I know you guys brought your own guns, but I figure while we're out there, it wouldn't hurt to see if Brightwater's got any fancy guns we could take off their hands. We do this, wait until Monday since, according to Hana, that's when it's the least busy and least-staffed, go over the full plan once more, and then we hit the casino. Everyone in agreement?" Aileen laid out, setting the full list of what to do if nobody disagreed. Looking at the whole group, there didn't seem to be one bit of disagreement, just silence. Hana being the only one bothered, Aileen assumed it was less about the plan and more about the shotgun-wielding, shovel-hands Ogre holding the back of Hana's neck like an escorted hostage.

"Not so much an objection, more a question: What are we gonna do with Hana? She's too wounded to be useful in the event of a firefight, and we still don't know if she's gonna hold up on our deal, so someone should probably stay here with her." Aderyn suggested, still suspicious about Hana's intent. Rolling her eyes, it was at this point that Hana finally voiced her objections.

"Right, what am I going to do in a dump-heap town like this while dressed like a washed-up pop star? Twerk at an awards show? Besides, the Snakes have a _very _rough Loose Ends policy, so even if I _wanted _to run, they're probably going to assume I'm a turncoat and shoot me on sight. If I run, my options are get my wings turned into Aderyn's fuckin' taxidermy or get shot, so I'll pick a crate and sit my scale-tailed ass down _right _here_, thank you very much_. Wouldn't mind having a gun though so I can, y'know, defend myself in the event of the Snakes knowing I'm here." Hana objected, actually earning Aderyn's respect for having the guts to butt heads despite her disadvantaged status. Both Zombies looking at each other, both had something to hand over to the Dragonewt.

"Here's the gun and a pair of spare mags. Just….don't shoot yourself with it, otherwise you and this gun are gonna have one _hell_ of a checkered history." Zom joked as she handed over her Jericho pistol, which happened to be the very specific gun she wounded Hana with in the first place. Trying to stick the barrel-end down her stupidly tight, nigh-ineffectual back pocket, Hana gave up after a brief time, resorting to just holding the gun in her right hand. With Aderyn turning over the switchblade she oh-so-gleefully threatened to cut Hana's wings off with, it was almost like a coordinated insult, Hana only staying silent to not shoot this gift-horse in the mouth.

"If that's over with, we better get movin'. We'd be best-off approaching at night, and with the day already burnin' out, it'll probably be dark by the time we get there. The sooner we do, the more midnight we got to plan our attack." Aileen reminded, getting up out of her chair. Causing another loud, plastic-ey crack on getting up, Aileen mildly vented her frustrations, kicking one leg backwards without changing direction to kick the chair away. Dislodging a few of the probably-already-broken wheels as it tried to skid away, the rest of the gang only caught faint mumbles of 'garbage-ass chair' and 'worthless friggin' junk' as they moved aside to let the Minotaur pass. Looking at each other, both Aderyn and Zom were partially surprised, yet partially not, at their soon-to-be fellow gang-member's temper.

"So….would you say doing this job is gonna be worth it just to have her around more?" Zom asked, the majority of the group following Aderyn's hand gesture to go outside after Aileen.

"_Oh yeah_. _Totally _worth it." Aderyn admitted, almost having forgotten about revenge as a factor in favor of recruiting these…'unique' individuals.

_Hours later, just outside of Fort Rhyolite, Brightwater PMC base…_

True to Aileen's word, the PMC base, Fort Rhyolite, was an unimpressive, only moderately-sized base blocked in by some basic chainlink fences topped with barbed wire. With an actual concrete guard-post at each corner of the building, the security was still painfully indicative of a low-value base that hardly anticipated to be attacked, with only one helipad, two large hangars at the base's back end, and a large amount of small barracks-type buildings dotted around. All the buildings being painted in a drab, flat grey color, things were made even easier by the obvious signs stuck to each building, which perfectly indicated which buildings were for equipment storage. Having navigated around the outside of the base to be closest to a storage building, the crew then had to deal with actually getting inside.

"So….anyone have an idea on gettin' inside?" Aileen asked, the entire group crowded around the fence behind their target building. Thankfully, due to the obscure location behind the base, as well as the time of day, they were both hard to spot _and _unlikely to find a patrolling guard around this area. Looking amongst themselves, the group slowly turned its eyes on Zom once again, but this time, there'd be no such luck.

"The hell do you expect _me _to do about it?! Make like a rat in a cheesy cartoon and bite through the damn fence?" Zom hissed in a whisper, essentially saying '_It ain't happenin'_. Nobody else having any better ideas, Aileen sighed and began to suggest making a run to Beatty for some bolt-cutters when Manako spoke up, rendering the suggestion needless.

"Hey…guys? The fence just over there's cut out. _Completely_." Manako alerted, pointing just a few feet to their right. Moving to get a better angle due to the bad lighting, Aileen found that the fence was, in fact, completely cut open, leaving a giant, 6'8" hole in the 8' fence that seemed roughly big enough for even an Ogre to just walk right through.

"Well that's useful…..I doubt these PMC types just left a giant hole in their fence though, so keep an eye out: I _really _get the feelin' we're not the only people breaking in here." Aileen advised, her Ithaca 37 loaded and ready to greet any base-goers they might find. Still somewhat trying to go stealthy for the time being, the mish-mashed crew of various heights and body sizes tried their best to creep and stay down as they piled up near the storage building's back door. Not knowing what to expect, Zom and Aileen were the closest to the door itself, standing on opposite sides of it as they looked at each other in hopes the other person was ready. Armed with her AKMS, Zom took the lead as Aileen opened the door. Finding nothing inside, and being more surprised that the door was unlocked, things were going smoothly as they spread out across the room. Leaving the lights off to avoid attracting unwanted attention from outside, the group began patting their hands around to spot the crates in the dark when the door at the front of the building opened up. Everyone ducking for cover as quietly as they could, it was most difficult for Aileen and Katalie, the two 6'-plus giants needing to just stand stock-still behind tall stacks of crates.

"I hate this base…..any reason they built it near a damned ghost town?" A man complained, probably a Brightwater soldier on a routine patrol. Not able to see them, the crew simply stayed down and waited. Failing to spot them after peeking up, Zom noticed upon sitting back down behind her crate of choice that Ailsa, the Scylla, had completely collapsed and wrapped up into a tightly-packed ball of tentacles, her skin-tone having changed to match the surrounding area as she hid in plain sight.

"Because it's out of the way…we can do all our field-tests and training exercises without having to listen to the locals whining about disturbing the piece and all that shit. What, you think you've seen a ghost or somethin'?" A second male voice responded, most likely a second guard walking alongside the first one. Spotting them, it was a pair of average-sized, normal human men dressed in grey cargo pants, work boots, grey T-shirts, grey thin hoodie jackets, and matching ballistic vests. Having the typical right-thigh sidearm holsters and belt-region ammo pouches, both guards also had a similar setup to Evalyn for headwear, both wearing black balaclavas and tinted sunglasses, one having a backwards grey baseball cap while the other wore a forward-facing grey military cap.

"I just got a weird feeling tonight, like Death itself is hanging over our heads, y'know? Not just the obligatory 'you might die, it's PMC work' bull, I mean like an _entity _of death, a _real _manifestation that's out there watching us right now." The first man clarified, causing some suspicious looks among the crew as to what might've caused that hole in the fence. Moving towards the back of the structure, the two guards, one armed with a Barrett REC7 rifle while the other had an ACR, seemed completely oblivious to the hidden Monsters. The ACR guard looking for something on the back shelf, it was probably just a small retrieval and not an actual patrol, meaning they were free to kill these two without fear of suspicion by the rest of the base. Slowly pulling her machete from her belt-sheath, Aileen gently pointed to the REC7-wielding guard, who was standing a few feet behind his buddy.

Knowing everyone understood she had the guy covered, Aileen went in, grabbing the man's left shoulder before ramming her machete through his side, aiming for the armpit in order to subvert the ballistic vest. Spinning him around after removing the machete, only to slam it into his head, Aileen was surprised to see the second guard taken out by Manako of all people. Possibly having been put under duress by the close quarters and stressful implications of being caught, Manako seemed to snap, having knocked the ACR guard over before clubbing him over the head with the stock of her Mosin-Nagant. Not yelling very much, the loud exertion noises still made it apparent that she was putting her all into it as she bashed the man's head over, and over, and over, and over….

"Manako." Zom said in a moderate tone, trying to get the Cyclops' attention. Unfortunately, she still kept swinging.

"_Manako! _He's friggin' dead already!" Zom spoke louder this time, actually pulling on the Cyclops' shoulder to get her attention. Succeeding this time around, Zom got the Cyclops to turn and face her as Manako calmed down. Not teary-eyed or overly-emotional, Manako was still breathing somewhat heavy, making it seem like it was just an adrenaline rush taken to an extreme.

"Sorry, still not used to the close-range combat thing….I'm fine though. Just…..a _lot _of adrenaline right now." Manako assured, her expression and tone making it pretty believable as the majority of the crew turned their attention back to searching through the crates.

"Careful, too much more of that and I'll start to think you're going to end up like me….Oh, and next time, use the bayonet. Gets the job done a _little _faster." Zom pointed out, patting Manako on the back as she reminded the Cyclops of the far more effective, thin, sharp bayonet affixed to her Mosin rifle that went unused. Taking it as a note for the future, Manako and Zom joined in on the crate perusal as they dug through for whatever planted explosives they could find. Aileen cracking open one grey container, the contents inside were a pleasant surprise in the form of stacks of M112 Demolition Blocks rather than the typical foam inserts stuffed with guns they'd been finding otherwise. Grabbing a single brick, Aileen held it up for the others to see just before Silver cracked open a second container, finding plenty of detonator cord and other necessities for rigging up the bombs. Considering it a success, what was going to be a quick in/out took a turn for the loud as the alarm sounded. Floodlights kicking on outside, it seemed like a base-wide alert, which didn't make sense in the slightest.

"You're kidding…they rigged alarms up to the _crates?!_" Aileen complained, assuming they set off the alarm. Gunfire erupting outside, Aileen's frustrated expression turned to confusion as she looked among the group, none of the others having any idea why automatic rifle-fire was going off outside. Moving to the window, Zom decided to take a peek as she spotted one of many Brightwater mercs standing his ground, opening fire on _something _just out of view. Backing up slightly, the man was quickly set upon and taken out as a 6'5" suit of armor charged him with dual swords. Unable to discern the wearer's gender or species, what Zom _could _spot was the twin, long, grey-bladed swords the person wielded. Looking like flat, grey rectangles with a razor-like slant at the top end, the hilts were far more ornamental, almost reminiscent of a high-quality katana. Moving deceptively fast despite the bulk of the armor, the dual-wielding swordsman butchered the merc alarmingly fast, taking his head and right arm off, as well as splitting him in half like he was wet paper.

"What do you think the chances are it's a Monster?" Zom asked, more of the gang coming up to the window to watch as the swordsman ran from guard to guard, bullets pinging off his/her armor as they cut the assailants down one by one. Worried the swordsman would be hostile to them too, things took a turn for the unexpected as one guard, armed with a KSG shotgun, popped the swordsman's head right off their shoulders. The helmeted head flipping and rolling backwards, the body continued to move, now stumbling and clumsily swinging its swords around in an attempt to hit whatever was near. Confirming their earlier suspicions of a Dullahan on the property, it didn't take long for multiple members of the group to think 'Maybe if we help, it won't dice us to pieces', but it took Manako, who didn't come to the window, to give them a bit more confidence about it.

"Hey, Katalie, I think you'll like this….." Manako, who was browsing more crates for something to help them, called to Katalie as she hefted something up. Looking like a modified LMG, it had the basic resemblance to an M249 or something of the sort, but had an attached chainsaw-style grip, as well as an affixed laser-pointer.

"An LMG actually _designed _for hip-firing? You think they hired any Ogres to use it by now?" Katalie smiled, grabbing the LMG by both its rear chainsaw grip and an upward-pointing forward handle further up on the gun. Throwing a few of the loaded box-magazines in a duffel bag she brought for carrying the explosives, Katalie led the way to saving their potential ally as she engaged the door boot-first, trying to kick it in. Making a loud thump, the door didn't budge. Kicking it again just as hard, the door didn't budge again, while a third kick only fractured the glass view-window around normal human head-level on the door.

"Left your door-knockin' boots at home I take it?" Aileen tandem joked/insulted, both giant Monsters silently realizing it didn't budge because it was a door that opened _into the building_, not one that swung out of it.

"Yeah, same place I left my Irish Cow-Kickin' boots. Remind me to show 'em to you when we get out of this." Katalie prodded back, letting go of the back handle of her gun to properly open the door. Echoing Aileen's earlier statement of 'worthless friggin' junk' about the door as she exited the structure, Katalie would remain stung for _quite _some time that her charge was stopped by a measly metal door that opened the wrong way.

Leading the offensive due to her bulletproof trench-coat, Zom and Aderyn also stepped out fast due to their nigh-immortality, leaving the 'vulnerable' members to wait until the gunfire was drawn away from the storage building. Seeing where the Dullahan's head rolled off to, Manako tried to move as fast as she could while still staying crouched, keeping her head below the gunfire as she grabbed the Dullahan's helmeted head. Having enough respect to not shake the head free of the helmet, the process of forming an alliance would be expedited as the head spoke to her.

"Another Monster? Here? I presume you're not with the mercenaries then, correct?" The head asked in a female voice, not sounding the slightest bit jarred or confused despite having taken a shotgun blast to the head not long ago. The helmet being made of some kind of metal, its appearance looked like pure, grey steel, but its lightweight feel in Manako's hands gave her the feeling it was some kind of Monster-made alloy instead. Having a closed mouthguard with a rectangular white stripe down the middle, the eye region was concealed by two tinted, black pieces of reinforced glass reminiscent of individual, blacked-over eyes. The sides and back of the helmet resembling that of a samurai, the biggest difference was the slatted sides and back were pulled in to conform to the wearer's head rather than slanting out and possessing a gap. The top bearing a pair of ridges going back across the top of her helmet, they were fairly prominent, probably as an alternative design to the typical forehead-affixed decoration.

"No, we're not…..we didn't come here for you, but if I put your head back on your body, you'll help us, right?" Manako asked, not wanting to resort to threats if she didn't have to. Not able to see the Dullahan's face, Manako had to instead sit there on her knees, head down in hopes of not getting shot as the Dullahan thought on the options.

"You seem trustworthy, and you _are _helping me in a moment of weakness…very well. The name's Nakamura Moriko. Return my head to my body, and I'll join you in your fight." Moriko agreed, causing Manako to turn Moriko's head in the direction of her decapitated body. Now able to see where it was and what it was doing, Moriko was able to guide the giant metal-clad body over to them, minimizing the risk to Manako. Taking a kneel, the body waited patiently for its head to be restored as Manako stood up, placing it right on the body's shoulders. Not quite sure how it stuck, the head stuck regardless as Moriko got back up, now possessing full control of herself once more. Getting a better look at the armor as Moriko took off towards the fight, Manako saw even the body had a samurai theme, being entirely made of the same steel-colored alloy.

With heavy, flat armor-plating on the outside of the biceps and forearms, the front and back of the biceps had smaller, less prominent armor plating to protect from damage. The chest being an incredibly thick, durable design with a protected collar-region that slanted down and out from there to the bust-line, it didn't slant an atrocious amount forward, but just enough that discerning gender by the chest was impossible thanks to the flat angles of the armor. Pulling back in towards the stomach below that, the stomach looked like an armored, flexible bodysuit with a studded row along the spinal cord, the front being a series of close armor plates with just enough gap between each to make bending forward less than a chore in-armor. The sides of the belt-line being dominated by the two long, rectangular sword-sheathes, one on each hip, the front and back were covered by a pair of matching, white, rectangular loincloths that reached the knees. The thighs being covered by similarly durable, steel-colored armor, the thighs were the most rounded part, being flat on the front, back, and outsides, but without the harshly pointed angles that the chestplate had. The shins having the harshly-pointed angles instead, it covered all four sides, and even had movable, rectangular flaps on the bottom to protect the ankles. The feet being fittingly heavy boots, the whole ensemble made it abundantly clear to everyone around that the suit was designed for tanking gunfire, not fighting conservatively.

Laying waste to Brightwater mercs with little issue, Moriko's problematic flaw aside from her head was becoming apparent as some of the dodgier, more nimble mercs were able to run past her, Moriko confusedly losing sight of them once they got under her arms. Seeming like she had gigantic blind-spots on her sides, possibly due to the bulk of the armor, the Venue members took priority on shooting those nimble mercs, letting Moriko worry about dicing up the rest. Even slashing one merc's REC7 right in half before giving him the same courtesy, the Dullahan was strangely distant in her kills. Rather than going through all the typical Dullahan blab about escorting the dead, Moriko was simply cleaving the mercs in half without a thought, passing from man to man and cutting them down to size in a swift, expertly-handled storm of blades, almost like she was a facilitator of Death instead of its shepherd. Sending the base's population swiftly down to 0, the mercs had one last idea to try and take care of the walking tank, namely by using an _actual _tank.

"That's…_really friggin' bad! Get the hell down!_" Aderyn yelled, slightly hysterical since, in all her time against the Snakes, despite all the crazy military-grade hardware they've acquired, never once did they send a grey-painted M1A2 Abrams against her. Firing its main gun, the variety of squishy, vulnerable targets went overlooked as the tank's operator instead tried to crack the toughest nut of the bunch, aiming right for Moriko. Thankfully already on the move when it came out, Moriko's consistent sprint kept her a step ahead of the tank's blast as it wiped out the fence at the far front of the base. With only the minimum amount of people on the tank, and the only one visible being on the roof-mounted MG turret, there was little opposition to stop Moriko as she flanked around, clambering on the back of the tank to greet the roof-gunner. Trying to retaliate, the man was silenced with a boot bearing down on his face before one sword was plunged through his chest, taking him out of the picture. Stepping forward along the tank's turret, Moriko made firing the gun a highly unappealing option, strangely splitting even the tank's barrel right in two with a single swipe.

Not knowing where the tank's operator precisely was, Moriko instead opted to sheathe her left blade and hold the right one upside down, plunging it randomly through the top of the tank. Having wiped the blood clean with her bicep and forearm before commencing this random stabbing, Moriko was using the sight of more blood on the blade to tell when she'd hit her mark as the giant Dullahan continued to randomly stab through the tank. Still driving in circles at a startling speed for a tank in hopes of shaking her off, the Dullahan would get a much-needed assist as Zom waited for the tank to pass by, having grabbed an M67 Frag Grenade off one of the dead mercs. Clambering on-board, she had a quick resolution with less guesstimating involved.

"I'm guessing you've got a big thing for killing with swords, but mind if we shirk that and just blast the guy out, just this once?" Zom offered, holding up the grenade as she held on by whatever she could. Pausing for a moment, Moriko relented and sheathed her other sword, taking the grenade in hand before yanking its pin. Dropping the grenade through the open hatch, both women leapt off, taking care to not leap right into the tank's path as it continued to drive around. A few seconds going by, the loud bang within the tank left it largely intact from the outside, but the slight burst of red that flew up from the hatch combined with the tank's lack of further movement painted an obvious picture of what happened inside. Deciding to remain non-hostile, Moriko still had more questions for the gang members, primarily the two Zombies.

"If you're not with the mercenaries, why are you here? Seeking a challenge?" Moriko asked, resting both hands on the hilts of her sheathed swords as Aderyn walked over to them. With the rest of the group taking care of packing up their explosives, the conversation was just between her, Moriko, and Zom.

"A challenge? Hell no, we were here to steal some explosives so we can rob a casino. You seem pretty useful…..want to join us?" Aderyn offered, not seeing any way she could realistically scare what, on its surface at least, was a metal monolith with _incredibly _sharp swords. Cocking her head to the side, Moriko seemed suspicious, but not outright opposed.

"A casino robbery would be a high-class offense, would it not? Potentially attracting greater police response than just the baseline, correct?" Moriko asked, sounding vaguely interested. Confused, Aderyn looked to Zom for a second opinion, who could only silently shrug in response.

"Yeah…..I'd imagine they'll probably send the SWAT team if word gets out that a bunch of big, scary Monsters blowing up statues and waving around automatic weapons crashed the casino. To boot, it's run by a gang, so the guards'll probably not go light on their own hardware. And even if they do, they're a gang we've got a _big _problem with, so when they figure out it's us, they'll probably send _plenty _of people to get back at us. What, are you _looking _for something above the regular beat-cops?" Aderyn explained, finding this odd Dullahan behavior. While they never shied away from death, none either of them had seen before ever sought a combat-challenge like this.

"Quite…I've come to terms with the fact that we Dullahans aren't needed to shepherd the dead, as humanity's done a perfect job of it without contact with us. As such, I've dedicated myself to other interests…namely, combating whatever seems like the greatest combat-threat around. It's not duty, or contractual, just…._fun." _Moriko explained, cementing that she wasn't caught up in the 'Death's Shepherd' lie most others were. "If you've got a habit of painting large targets on your back, as well as attracting the ire of well-armed enemies, I'll gladly join. I don't care for the money, just for the fighting."

"Well, we'll pay you regardless, but it's good to know you won't be whining for a raise any time soon…welcome aboard. Giant…..samurai-lady…." Aderyn welcomed, having not gotten Moriko's name yet. Extending one hand for a handshake, the large Dullahan's hand almost dwarfed Aderyn's given their immense height difference as the two awkwardly shook on their new deal. And, as if to break the ice, Aileen came out to let them know of a _second _new gun they found in Brightwater's possession.

"Ey, guys! Look at this thing, some kinda 3-shot grenade launcher! Manako found it in there with the machine gun!" Aileen called out, holding a small 40mm grenade launcher with a stock of some kind. Looking back at Moriko, both Zombies had an expression chock full of 'Yes, it seems like she _is _always like this'. With the introductions over with, the trio moved to help move their quarry out before more mercs arrived at the base.

_Later, back at the Warehouse….._

"Hana…..we're back. You here?" Aderyn asked, opening the door ahead of everyone else to make sure Hana hadn't bailed on them. With Zom close behind and carrying her AKMS, just in-case Hana tried to ambush them, what they found was quite the polar opposite. Still alive and well, and very-much not-deserting them, Hana was contently laying on one of the wooden crates in plain view of the two Zombies, cross-legged and bored out of her mind. What made it strange, however, was the two face-down dead men dressed in suits not far in front of the arrived Zombies.

"Oh, you're finally back…..told you the Snakes were gonna come looking for me." Hana teased, passing the Jericho and switchblade back to their respective owners as the two Zombies stared at the bodies in a dumbfounded manner. Not sure if they were more surprised that Hana didn't bail or that the Snakes found her, it didn't matter in the end, as either way, it was proof of loyalty on Hana's part. The rest of the crew coming in with their bags and crates of explosives and ammo, Aileen and Katalie seemed to take the most note of Hana's presence.

"Oh, Ms. Scale-tail decided to stay?" Aileen said in a strangely happy tone as Katalie groaned and rolled her eyes. Strange at first, it soon made sense as Katalie reached one hand behind her trench coat to get at her back pants-pocket, drawing a basic wallet from it. Withdrawing a small sum of money, Katalie begrudgingly slapped it into Aileen's waiting hand, further confirming that not everyone had faith in the Dragonewt's loyalty.

Author's Note.

Apologies for the incredibly long wait-time. On top of the typical bouncing multiple stories thing that I'm fairly certain I've already mentioned, I very recently had to do the closing-out tests for two different courses at once, so this chapter was nearly done, then that hit and took up close to two weeks, and then there was a small time after _that _that I was just burned out and couldn't come to writing anything. Finally finished this, and when I was going back through earlier chapters to implement some _tiny _edits, namely changing the AKM to the AKMS (Which is just an AKM with a folding stock, so it achieves the same visual profile I wanted when the stock is folded, but without having to rationalize why a full-on no-stock AK exists), and while looking through, I remembered just how….._bad_ some of the early chapters were. I was finding multiple places that I wanted to beat my own head into the desk, like senseless spaces where they weren't needed and all that, and it was _far _from how, say, this chapter is written, so I've gone back and revised the earlier chapters. No giant plot revisions, just modifications to the fine details like specific dialogue, descriptions (Or lack thereof), and things of that nature. Now with that over, ideally writing-time will go up in the small span of time I have before _more _courses start, and this upcoming one's actually college-level. _Yay…._

Moving on to more story-relevant things, to address what was probably the first confusion people had, Aileen's "Polecat on a barstool" line isn't supposed to make sense, so there's no point in looking it up. It's not some well-researched quote about Irish culture or living conditions, it's a quote from an actual Irish friend of ours who said it wholesale as you read it, and I decided to put it in to see if it makes as little sense to others as it did to us. Even _she _seemed to barely get it, she said it just kinda rolled off the tongue. Moving on to the two mystery guns in the chapter, I just left the names out so it's not a painfully drawn-out explanation of how they'd discover the names without psychically knowing already, so Katalie's new MG is the Knight's Armament Company Chain SAW, which, yes, it _is _a real gun, not just fictitious nonsense made for Call of Duty: Ghosts. If you look it up, it _is _real, but it's just a testbed currently for the concept of a hip-fired support weapon, not something in active service, so the rationale is that a private company like Brightwater would be an apt candidate for field-testing it to make further improvements. To boot, hip-fire is how Katalie was wielding her previous LMG, so why not upgrade to one, prototype or not, that's actually designed to do so?

Moving on, the GL at the end is the Metal Storm 3GL, which, according to their site, uses conventional, tried-and-true 40mm ammo types, so the rationale of how the Venue would get their hands on ammo for it is no more finicky than how they'd get their hands on ammo for any _other _grenade launcher like the M79, this one just fires three shots instead of one. With the guns out of the way, the next biggest thing I want to address is one concern about Manako: No, her bashing the guard's head in with her gun is not her turning into a second Zom, nor is it buildup to some annoying, senseless drama that divides the group later on. It was purely a one-off joke about someone who is usually only a combatant at long range not being able to handle the adrenaline rush of being so close to the actual threat for once. As for her being strong enough to kill a man in that manner, while she doesn't look like an effeminate brick shit-house like, say, Tio, you have to admit she _has _to be pretty strong if she lugged that comedically over-sized rifle two miles in their debut chapter. If anything, the _Mosin _is probably more at threat of not living up to that beatdown than Manako is.

Finally, Moriko is, in fact, a permanent addition, not a one-off for the Casino job, and in addition, it doesn't wipe Karl from earlier on out of the story. The main reasoning for her addition was when one of the people I work with on these pointed out that, while I _usually _should be concerned about writing too many female characters in a story (I find I write them better than I do male ones, so it just kinda comes naturally to bias more in that direction), why should I care if there's a hard bias towards female characters given this story's source material? Hell, she directly said "if there's _any _time to go on a hard-bias in that direction, it's with American Monsters. It's, like, _the _place to do it", so Moriko was partially put in there for any Lala fans that were displeased with having a male Dullahan before. In addition, about her blades, in the surprising case that someone might've actually read this far beforehand (Assuming not many people have since there are no reviews for this chapter at the time of this Author's Note edit), anyone who remembers might've seen me say the concept behind her blades was based in the vague theoretical concept of monomolecular blades.

I like to revise and edit where I can, and write plenty of things that aren't these publicly posted chapters due to being set way farther into the story than the public chapter is up to, and a side-effect of that is a character's traits or behavior might be far less developed when they debut, then I get the hang of making them more unique in these "Off-screen" writings I do. As such, no, you're not crazy for thinking I said it was monomolecular blades before, because I did, but since Moriko is such a new addition publicly, this is the best time to pull a ret-con and go down a different, personally better route with it. They're still absurdly sharp, but rather than simply a blade that cleaves through anything at all times, I'm switching it over to a concept I've used quite heavily in a private, not publicly available original work that deals quite heavily with the concept of ontology, effectively the nature of existence so to speak. More specifically, playing with a personal idea of the "Power" of one's soul and how the effectiveness of a weapon can vary based on its wielder. How this relates to Moriko is, instead of just "It's a sharp-ass blade", instead it's almost like an extension of herself that, in her hands, 'overpowers' the physical matter of opposing elements with a weaker 'energy' to them, such as basic, average humans and the equipment they're in physical contact with, be it the barrel of a tank they sit in or a gun in their hands.

It's both more complex than just a sharp blade, _and _it resolves the personal annoyance I could never get around of how Moriko would sheathe her blades without destroying the sheath/why they don't plunge into the ground at all times. Yeah just a sharp blade can be cool, but to keep her unique dynamic up with that simple explanation, they kinda get _too _sharp, so making it an ontological matter involving a clashing of will and spiritual energy not only fits with the already supernatural Dullahan species, it's also less of a handicap in most situations. To boot, now an opponent down the line could be too 'strong' in energy for Moriko to just dice them up, making for a more problematic, back-and-forth fight. As for the armor, I'm still keeping that as being highly bullet-resistant since, as I just said, it's _bullet _resistant. The Snakes have already been off-hand mentioned to have explosive weaponry, and Brightwater most _certainly _does, so if anyone here has played Gears of War 3, think of it with a similar mindset to the Armored Kantus: Bullets do near-nothing, but fire, explosives, anything even remotely scarier is still a problem.


End file.
